The destruction of the most important Muslim landmark in the Yemeni city of al-Hawta, Lahij province last week by suspected al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) elements has drawn strong condemnation from officials and scholars.

A group of suspected AQAP gunmen on 30 motorcycles attacked the shrine and mosque of renowned Muslim scholar Sufyan bin Abdullah, the Yemeni Defence Ministry's 26sep.net news portal said Wednesday (January 28th).

The gunmen blew up and demolished the shrine, ransacked the tomb and adjacent graves, and removed the remains of the dead, it said.

Bin Abdullah's tomb dates back more than 800 years.

Yemen's General Authority for Antiquities and Museums issued a statement Thursday denouncing the demolition of the shrine at the hands of "terrorist groups".

"I am astonished at the attack on a historic Muslim landmark which dates back 800 years," authority head Muhannad al-Sayani told Al-Shorfa.

Officials suspect AQAP was behind the attack as its elements have carried out similar incursions damaging archaeological and historical landmarks in the past, he added.

"The dysfunctional security situation is having a negative impact on archaeological and historical sites," al-Sayani said, urging the protection of Yemeni landmarks from vandalism that targets the country's heritage and memory.

"A terrorist group attacked the shrine of the scholar Sufyan Abdullah, demolishing it and levelling its dome, and also ransacking graves," Aref Abdul Aziz of the Lahij archaeological office told Al-Shorfa. "A team from the archaeological office visited the site and found the shrine no longer exists, which highlights the malice of those who carried out this attack against humanity."

Abdul Aziz condemned the incident, saying, "No one has the right to demolish a historic Muslim landmark since it does not belong to any party, sect, faith or group, but rather is a landmark of human history and civilisation and thus belongs to all people."

"We are anguished by the damage inflicted on antiquities at the hands of some groups which take advantage of the security situation to carry out their attacks," he said.

'Impermissible in Islam'

Ministry of Culture undersecretary Aeed al-Shawafi also denounced the attack on the historic Muslim landmark.

"We condemn and denounce in the strongest terms what is happening to archaeological and cultural sites, which reflect human civilisation," he told Al-Shorfa.

Al-Shawafi called on citizens of all affiliations to protect historic landmarks and sites, "because they are public property and do not belong to a particular sect, faith or party".

"An attack on archaeological and historical sites is an attack on the people and their civilisation," he added.

Islam prohibits ransacking graves and committing transgressions against the dead, Yemen's Ministry of Endowments and Guidance said.

"It is impermissible in Islam to commit a transgression against the dead or to attack and dig up graves or even walk over them," Sheikh Jabri Ibrahim, director general of preaching and guidance at the ministry, said in an interview published by the official news agency Saba.

Prophet Mohammed, he said, "saw a man sitting on a grave and said to him, 'Arise, do not harm the owner of the grave, he does not harm you'".

Bombing and attacking shrines is a crime, Sheikh Ibrahim said, adding, "Humans inherently do not harm the living nor the dead, but rather pray for the dead and coexist with the living in line with the prophet's saying: 'A Muslim is he who spares Muslims his tongue and his hand'."

Al-Shorfa