ANKARA

Yemen’s internationally recognized government condemned on Thursday the killing of Sheikh Saleh Hantous, a 70-year-old Quran teacher, by Houthi forces in the western province of Raymah.

The death has sparked outrage, with government officials calling it a “heinous crime,” while the Houthi group alleged that the cleric incited unrest and resisted arrest violently.

In a statement, the Ministry of Religious Endowments and Guidance said that Hantous “was killed in a treacherous crime committed by Houthi terrorist militias after a prolonged siege and armed assault on his home and mosque.”

The ministry stressed that the perpetrators would not escape accountability.

In contrast, the Houthi-controlled police in Raymah issued a conflicting account claiming that Hantous was killed during a shootout with security forces on Tuesday.

They accused him of “inciting chaos and rebellion,” rejecting the group’s political positions and their pro-Palestinian stance.

According to the police statement, Hantous had “adopted positions aligned with the American-Zionist aggression” and attempted to “undermine popular and official activities in support of the Palestinian resistance.”

They alleged that several warnings had been issued to the cleric through local mediators, but that he refused to comply.

The Houthis claimed that Hantous opened fire when security forces arrived to detain him, leading to the death of three officers and the injury of seven others.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched missile and drone strikes on Israeli targets and targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 57,100 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive.

Yemen has seen a relative state of calm since April 2022 following a truce that halted hostilities between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group that erupted in September 2014 when the Iran-aligned group seized the capital Sanaa.