The Fall of Azeeza Abdo Othman

For the second consecutive day, revolutionaries in Taiz, one the main strongholds of the revolution, dubbed "the Heart and Mind of Yemen" by many anti-regime activists since Taiz has a history of rebellion and a strong intellectual heritage, set up to protest against Saleh's regime.

But unlike yesterday, when the protests were more or less eventless except for a few sporadic gun shots and a heavy military presence, things turned sour for Taiz very early on.

As revolutionaries started to march throughout the city, protesters recalled seeing an unprecedented numbers of Central Security men in civilians clothes and snipers already positioned upon rooftops, scattered all across the march pathway. More disturbingly as a man stated, "they were already aiming at us, as opposed to watching us as they had done in previous demonstrations." "There was a sort of stillness about them that gave me the chills" said a school teacher who for security reasons preferred to remain anonymous.

Soon enough, the sound of bullets started to fill the air, echoed by the screams and warlike roars of the crowd. In scenes which were quite similar to that witnessed 9 months ago when Yemenis were emboldened by the Egyptian victory and had still in mind epic images of bare-chested men offering themselves to the regime's bullets, revolutionaries did not deviate from the path, marching on in spite of the danger.

As casualties started to mount, the unthinkable happened…

Azeeza Abdo Othman, a young woman activist in her twenties fell; hit by a sniper who aimed to kill her as he shot directly at her head. Her murder was recorded on a video phone, forever witness of the atrocities of a regime which does stop at nothing to impose its rule.

Unarmed and peaceful, Azeeza was robbed of her future for she dared hope for a better life.

As her blood was pouring from her wound, leaving her lifeless, fellow protesters gathered feverishly around her, trying to stop the hemorrhage, indifferent to snipers who continued to rain bullets around them.

But despite their best efforts, Azeeza died in the arms of another revolutionary, another innocent victim of the deadly struggle for the presidency.

Later that day, as rain started to fall, women stood silently where Azeeza fell, mourning the death of their sister, mourning the death of what little honor the regime had left.

Yemen tonight is sharing her family' sorrow for Azeeza has become our sister, our mother, our daughter…

Source: Yemen Post