In video: Donkeys participate in angry demonstration in Taiz

TAIZA, July 08 (YPA) – A mock popular march was staged on Tuesday in the coalition-controlled city of Taiz, led by a number of donkeys, to express citizens’ ongoing suffering due to the lack of water, without any response from the coalition-backed Aden government.

In an unusual scene, some participants rode donkeys through the main streets, which residents have used to fetch water from long distances, to the front of the local authorities building on Jamal Street.

The protesters denounced the water shortage and demanded the dismissal of the UAE-backed governor of Taiz, Nabil Shamsan.

They placed Shamsan’s pictures on donkeys in a sarcastic message expressing their discontent with local authorities’ failure to provide the most basic services to citizens.

For her part, Taiz human rights activist Rosa Al-Naaman described the scene of the donkeys demonstrating in search of water, saying, “Taiz today is no longer being run, but rather being plundered.” She stated in a post on Facebook that “the donkeys in the streets speak what men cannot.”

The demonstration followed similar angry protests, including the Taiz Women’s Revolution, and other protests denouncing the collapse of living conditions and services.
The demonstrations pledged to escalate popular protests until the pro-coalition authorities were expelled.

Many activists in Taiz accused local authorities of hoarding revenues without providing the most basic necessities for a decent life to alleviate the suffering of citizens.