Tribesmen killed 3 security men and dismissed governor after protests dispersed in remote province

By Nasser Arrabyee/15/03/2011

A security commander and two soldiers were killed by armed tribesmen angry with the security forces who injured three tribesmen while dispersing a group of anti-government demonstrators in the city of Al Hazam, the capital of Al Jawf province east of the country, official and local sources said Monday.

The tribesmen who killed the security men were taking revenge for the tribesmen who were injured at the gate of the local government compound of Al Jawf where a group of tribesmen were demanding the ouster of the newly appointed governor who is not from the same province, according to the local tribal leader Abdullah Al Jamili.

After the security forces dispersed the demonstrators and injured three of them, more tribesmen came over to help and some of them called the tribesmen of Al Maslob district telling them to kill any security men they find.


“The commander of Al Maslob district in Al Jawf, Abdul Ghani Ahmed Olyan, and two other soldiers were killed cold-bloodedly while on their duty by rash young people at a moment of rage,” said Al Jamili who supports the anti-government protests but refuses the violence.

The ministry of interior said that armed men from the opposition Islamist party Islah killed the soldiers and their commander.

At the beginning, the tribesmen were demanding the ouster of the governor and after clashes with the security forces they were demanding the ouster of the whole regime inspired by the current protests in many cities which demand the ouster of President Saleh.

Al Jamili said the tribesmen occupied the local government buildings compound and forced the governor, Yahya Ghawdal, to leave very late Monday to a military camp, about 5 km away.

“Four tribal leaders accompanied the governor Ghawdal to the camp, and we and all the tribesmen in Al Jawf are insisting on changing him with one from the us,” said Al Jamili.

The governor Ghawdal, who is not from Al Jawf, was appointed only last month. While these thing were happening in Al Jawf on Monday, one of the prominent tribal leader who is leading member in the opposition Islamist party Islah, in the same province, Shiekh Amin Al Okaimi, was in the capital Sana’a declaring his support for the anti-regime protests.

In the neighboring province of Mareb, almost the same thing happened, where tribesmen tried to storm the building compound of the local government . The governor of Marib, Naji Al Zaydi(from Marib) was injured when one of the tribesmen stabbed him at his neck.

The security forces dispersed the angry tribesmen who were demanding the ouster of the regime and accusing the governor of killing Jaber Al Shabwani, the deputy governor who was mistakenly killed by a US drone last year while mediating with Al Qaeda people.

Al Jawf and Marib are known as safe haven places for Al Qaeda operatives who find support and protection from the uneducated and simple tribesmen.