Houthis kidnap Yemen journalist

Yusif Ajlan, the former editor of the Yemeni opposition website Al Masdar Online, has been kidnapped by Houthi rebels, MEMO has been told.

Sources told MEMO that the former editor of the online news site was kidnapped from outside his house in the capital Sana’a on 15 October.

Al Masdar Online has been under constant attack by the Houthis since they orchestrated their coup in September 2014. Its journalists have been targeted and its office has been closed numerous times. Its website has also been censored.

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. The Houthis are notorious for their crackdown on freedom of speech. Journalists who express dissent to the coup are kidnapped and their media outlets closed. There have also been cases of journalists and activists being tortured.

Yemen has been locked in a bitter battle between Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.