MUHAMMAD AL-SANAANI, 75, missed the sound of "Ramadan cannons," one of the most natural practices in Yemen that Houthis and militias allied to ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has halted since 2014. For the third year in a row, the holy month of Ramadan in Sanaa was not accompanied with Ramadan cannons, but with "death and destruction" that militias brought, Sanaani told Al Arabiya.net. Ancient cannons Before the coup d'etat, there were three ancient cannons dating back to the Ottoman period, about 500 years ago. The cannons were located on mountains of Nuqm, Ayban and Attan, and used during Ramadan to indicate Suhur and Iftar timings for Yemeni citizens. Residents of nearby neighborhoods told Al Arabiya.net that Houthis took the Nuqm cannon — the most prominent cannon — from Nuqm Mountain, which no one knows about its current whereabouts. They said that before the Houthis took the cannon, it was used in Ramadan and then covered to be used in upcoming years. With the removal of these cannons from Sanaa, both the timings of Suhur and Iftar were ruined. Sanaa's resident, Ali Al Mahmoudi said that both Suhur and Iftar timings are now subjected to imam's mood and the doctrine they belong to. He added that some even delay the Maghreb prayer. Taken down by militias About 200 Ottoman cannons passed from the army of the third and last Ottoman commander of Yemen in 1917 were taken by the militia. The former Yemeni Minister of Culture and Tourism Khaled Al-Rowaishan accused militias of stealing ancient cannons. — Al Arabiya English
