Alwaght- The U.N. conservation agency UNESCO has slammed a Saudi-led airstrike that destroyed at least four historic buildings in a section of Yemen's capital dating back to before the 11th century Friday.
At least six people died in the early-morning raid in Sanaa, according to Yemen's state news agency Saba.
Saudi jet fighters hit the capital's Old City, which has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years. Sana’s dense rammed earth and burnt brick towers, strikingly decorated, are famous around the world and are an integral part of Yemen’s identity and pride.
The U.N. conservation agency UNESCO criticized the action, which it said turned a "magnificent complex of traditional houses" into ruins in the ancient and densely-populated Al Qasimi neighborhood.
"I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as by the damage inflicted on one of the world's oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape," UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement. "I am shocked by the images of these magnificent many-storied tower-houses and serene gardens reduced to rubble."
According to UNESCO, there are 103 mosques and over 6,000 houses in the Old City that were built before the 11th century. It is "defined by an extraordinary density of rammed earth and burnt brick towers," the U.N. agency said.
Sanaa's old city, situated in a mountain valley, was a major centre for the propagation of Islam. It was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1986.
The multi-storey houses rising above stone ground floors were built of rammed earth and burnt brick. Each building is decorated with geometric patterns of fired bricks and white gypsum, inspired by traditional Islamic art.
Earlier this month, UNESCO condemned May 31 Saudi air strikes that hit the ancient Great Dam of Marib, which was first built in the 8th century BC, in the city that was once the capital of the kingdom of Saba.
The UN body said the attack on the dam came a week after the national museum in Dhamar, in central Yemen, was "completely destroyed".
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In Focus
Ansarullah
A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
Shiite
represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Resistance
Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council
A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
Taliban
Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
Wahhabism & Extremism
Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds
Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening
Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
Al-Qaeda
A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
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