Houthis close Yemen TV channel and abduct its director

Armed Houthi fighters raised Yemen’s Al-Saeedah TV channel yesterday morning in the capital Sana’a.

Local sources have told MEMO that the channel’s office as broken into and violently raided. Its Director, Mukhtar Al-Qadasi, was also kidnapped. His whereabouts and wellbeing are unknown.

This comes as a result of a crackdown on Yemeni journalists and activists by forces loyal to the Houthis and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Houthi fighters took control of Sana’a after a coup on 21 September 2014. They did so in alliance with former President Saleh.

Prior to the Yemeni revolution, Saleh fought the Houthis in six wars.