Taiz.. Gunmen open fire on the participants in an art festival

Gunmen thwarted an artistic event in the sixth “Eidna Taiz” festival, which ends its third day, on Saturday evening, at the Martyrs’ Stadium in the city of Taiz, southwestern Yemen, following an incitement campaign launched by extremist leaders and elements.

Local sources said that a number of people were wounded in the festival as a result of gunmen shooting indiscriminately at the participants with the aim of thwarting the festival.

The local authorities in Taiz accused those they considered “morally immoral” of causing chaos in the festival, which concluded in the province, on Saturday, while honoring the well-known Yemeni artist, Muhammad Atroush.

The Director General of the Culture Bureau in Taiz, Abdul Khaliq Saif, said in a post on his Facebook page: “The fabrication of what happened at the end of the Taiz Festival was due to incitement and dark mobilization.”

He added that some “infiltrators from the Task Force, who are morally out of touch, fabricated this madness and extremism against us and against the fans of the festival, because they chanted the name of Tariq Saleh, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, while honoring the people’s artist, Atroush.”

He pointed out that the “rebels” assaulted the crowd present at the festival, injuring some of them.

He emphasized that the honoring and celebration took place in the fullest way for the artist Atroush, calling on the security services to take strict measures against “those who did this, arrested them and everyone behind them, and stopped the wheel of incitement against national and political symbols and against cultural activities in Taiz.”

Al-Alimi asks to investigate the unfortunate events

In the context, the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, directed a speedy investigation into the unfortunate events that accompanied the Taiz Art Festival.

The official Yemeni News Agency quoted an official source in the office of the Presidency of the Republic as saying that Al-Alimi asked the governor of Taiz to form a committee to investigate the unfortunate events and arrest those responsible and anyone suspected of spoiling the joy of Eid during the festival dedicated to honoring the artist Atroush.

The directives included ensuring the treatment of the wounded, reparation for any damage caused by these unfortunate events, and ensuring that they would not recur.