Yemen’s historic sites damaged in airstrikes after ceasefire fails
Unesco chief condemns attacks, urges all side to keep heritage out of the conflict.
Unlike the widely reported attacks by Islamic State on historic sites in Syria and Iraq, the loss of Yemen’s cultural heritage due to continued violence and political instability has received little media attention.
According to Unesco, many historic buildings were bombed on 11 May in the Old City of Sana’a, a World Heritage Site. The Old City of Saa’dah, submitted by Yemen as a tentative site to the
The Art Newspaper
May 19, 2015
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World Heritage List, and the historic city of Baraqish were also reportedly damaged. Fighting has repeatedly erupted across the country since 2011, as separatists, rebel groups and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) challenge the Saudi-installed president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government for power.
Druing this time, museums across Yemen have been looted, with Zinjibar Museum in Abyan Province, now virtually empty, serving as a temporary home for displaced people. Airstrikes, launched by a coalition of Arab states, have occurred regularly since March, following the taking of Sana’a by the Houthis, a rebel group. A five-day humanitarian cease-fire was in place from 12 May, but violence has since resumed.
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