Houthi Presidency Office's Directive Fails to Stop a Telecommunications Company from Demolishing Archaeological Castle

The Yemen Mobile Company has begun constructing a telecommunications tower in an archaeological site in Dhamar province in North Yemen, defying the Houthi Presidency Office's directive, which ordered the company to find an alternative place for its tower.

Sheba Intelligence obtained a letter from the Houthi Presidency Office in June this year to the Telecommunications Minister in Sanaa, Musfir Al-Numair. The Presidency Office requested Al-Numair stop destroying an archaeological site, the Dhaf Castle in Dhamar. However, the letter failed to dissuade the telecommunications ministry from obliterating the castle.

Today, the tower's construction is ongoing, leaving countless Yemenis furious and disappointed. Abdullah Mohsen, a Yemeni archaeology researcher, wrote on his Facebook account, "Though the highest authority in Sanaa directed the stoppage of the destruction of Dhamar's Dhaf Castle, the Yemen Mobile Company is insisting on demolishing it to build telecommunications towers."

Yemen Mobile is a government telecommunications company established in 2004 by Yemen's Ministry of Telecommunications. It has been a massive income-generating company.

In April this year, Esam Al-Hamli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said the Yemen Mobile Company achieved total revenues exceeding 220 billion riyals, with a growth rate of 15.83 percent, compared to the previous year. The net profits surpassed 44 billion riyals, with a growth rate of 25.61 percent compared to the last year. Given the company's tremendous income, the Houthi chief leadership will overlook the company's move to destroy the archaeological castle. In wartime, their philosophy is money comes first, not archaeological sites.