Gunmen in Yemen’s besieged city of Taiz have recently dragged bodies of snipers belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi militia allied with ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh after they were killed in clashes taken place in different parts of the city between the militiamen and the Yemeni national army.

Yemeni activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Tawakkol Karman has condemned the accident, calling for an investigation with the perpetrators. 

In a statement posted on her Facebook account, Karman said resorting to dragging or mutilating corpses of snipers or killers is a condemnable act that should not be justified, noting that perpetrators bear moral and criminal responsibility according to humanitarian law. 

However, Mrs. Karman has refused any attempts to hold all people of Taiz responsible for a crime committed by “individuals”, emphasizing that it is inacceptable to say that people of Taiz have committed the crime.

Since late March 2015, Taiz province has been witnessing fierce battles between the Houthi militia backed by forces loyal to ousted president Saleh and the national army supported by the popular resistance, which has led to thousands of victims. 

Human Rights Watch had said the Iran-affiliated Houthi militia and its close ally, Saleh, indiscriminately and frequently bombed residential neighborhoods of the city, which left hundreds of civilians dead and much more injured.