Aden: Islamist radicals in Yemen have blown up a 16th century mosque housing the shrine of a revered Sufi scholar in the city of Taiz, a local official said on Sunday.
Gunmen led by a Salafist local chief known as Abu Al Abbas blew up the mosque of Shaikh Abdul Hadi Al Sudi on Friday night, the official said, confirming media reports of the attack.
Yemen’s commission for antiquities and museums condemned the destruction of the site that is considered the most famous in Taiz.
It said the mosque’s white dome was “one of the biggest domes in Yemen and one of the most beautiful religious sites in old Taiz”.
Images of the site before destruction showed a white square-shaped, single-storey structure topped by a large central dome circled by smaller ones.
Sufism is a mystical movement of Islam that is frowned upon by the ultraconservative Salafist brand of Islam.
Taiz city is besieged by Al Houthi rebels, but the city itself is controlled by a combination of forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and allied militias.
Residents have complained of the growing influence of radical Salafists, who have been imposing curbs on mixing between men and women.
While Al Qaida and Daesh terrorists have been under attack by both government and rebel forces as well as US drones.
