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Yemen: 500 Insurgency Detention Centers | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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People gather at a prison damaged in fighting in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Yemen. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad


Aden– A Yemeni child escaped an abduction attempt when an assailant tried to kidnap him on a street in Sana’a last Sunday.

The boy, Mohammed, is the son of Murad al-Gharati who heads Tamkeen organization in Yemen.

The incident happened when a car without a license plate approached Mohammed seeking directions for a school. He was then kidnapped and the car drove for two hours before reaching al-Sanina Mountain. Mohammed jumped out of the vehicle, when it slowed down to avoid a pothole, and escaped.

Mohammed’s father said that the driver chased the boy, who then ran and had to hide in a building for hours before reaching a safe place.

The kidnapping attempt is not the first in Yemen as reports indicate the number of abductions has increased since Houthis and Saleh’s forces occupied parts of the country in July 2014.

According to reports, there are about 500 detention camps and prisons for militias in Yemen, including secret sites.

Earlier, Houthis and Saleh’s militias kidnapped 18 citizens of Radea in al-Bayda district on their way back from Sana’a.

Informed local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that all 18 abductees belong to Qayfah Tribe of al-Qarisha district. They said the detainees were transferred to security department in Dhamar, which is now a prison camp.

Earlier this week, Abaad Studies and Research Center in collaboration with Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, issued a report saying there had been 12,261 abduction cases in Yemen.

The center said in the report there is no information about the conditions of their imprisonment and some of the abductees have been used as human shields in conflict zones that are targets for the coalition.