Houthi minister shot dead in Yemeni capital

Al-Monitor Staff

Oct 27, 2020

A car passes by the site of the attack against Hassan Zaid, minister for youth and sports in Yemen's rebel Huthi administration, where he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen, in the Huthi-held capital Sanaa on October 27, 2020. - Unidentified gunmen shot the Huthi government minister as he drove his car, also wounding his daughter. Yemen is mired in civil war between Iran-backed Huthi rebels -- who control the capital but whose administration is not internationally recognised -- and a beleaguered governmen — A car passes the site of the attack against Hassan Zaid, minister for youth and sports in Yemen's rebel Huthi administration, where he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Oct. 27, 2020. — MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

A Houthi official was shot and killed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa today.

Hassan Zaid, the sports and youth minister in the Houthi administration, was gunned down on Tuesday and later died from his wounds in the hospital, Reuters reported.

Yemen has been embroiled in a brutal civil war since 2014. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels currently control Sanaa and much of the country’s west. The internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi controls most of the rest of the country.

The Hadi government is heavily backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the conflict is in some ways a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Houthi minister shot dead in Yemeni capital

The sports minister for the Iran-backed Houthi administration was assassinated while in his car as the war with the Saudi-backed government rages on.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish

Read By