Taiz – Mass protests have swept through the city of Taiz for the fourth consecutive day following the assassination of Aftehan Al-Mashhri, director of the Cleaning and Improvement Fund, who was gunned down by unidentified assailants on Thursday morning.

Thousands of demonstrators, including municipal workers and civil society activists, took to the streets demanding justice and accountability. 

Protesters accused local authorities of failing to curb the growing security chaos and held Governor Nabil Shamsan and military commander Khaled Fadel responsible for the deteriorating situation.

The demonstrations have paralyzed key roads in the city, with piles of garbage deliberately dumped in protest and a sit-in tent erected outside the governorate building. 

Protesters carried banners condemning the assassination and calling for urgent reforms to restore public safety.

In response, the local security committee announced a joint operation to pursue the suspects, who are reportedly hiding in the volatile neighborhoods of Kalabah and Al-Rawdhah—areas known locally as “the death zone.”

The killing of Al-Mashhri, a prominent female official, has sparked outrage across Yemen, with activists warning that impunity and lawlessness are threatening the country’s fragile civic institutions.