almotamar.net - A source at the Antiquities Authority said Monday that the Authority has been able since the beginning of the current year up until July to recover 200 pieces of antiquities after an attempt to smuggle them outside Yemen.

The source said in a statement to almotamar.net that the Authority recovered those pieces after security apparatuses manage to seize them in possession of a number of smugglers at different land and sea border outlets, pointing out that the majority of the antiquity pieces were captured at Sana'a Airport.

The restored antiques include statues, masterpieces, arrows and stone plates dating to pre and after Islam, clarifying that those pieces represent a very valuable archaeological value for the ancient Yemeni civilization.
According to the source there are six accused persons, all of them Yemenis, are now standing trial over the attempt of smuggling those pieces.

On the other hand the source said that the Antiquities Authority was able to buy 300 pieces of antiquities from citizens and were put at the national Museum.