Troops and tribsmen in clashes with Al Qaeda in the south

Troops and tribsmen in clashes  with Al Qaeda in the south

About 7000 Al Qaeda fighters including 1000 foreigners all over the country

By Nasser Arrabyee,06/01/2013

At least three Al Qaeda operatives were killed in confrontations with government troops and loyal tribesmen in the mountainous stronghold of Al Mahfad of the southern province of Abyan, said local sources Sunday. 

The troops and loyal tribesmen forced  about 200 Al Qaeda fighters to leave their positions in Thaykah area, Al Basham, Helwah and Wadi Omair after more than 10 hours of clashes, the sources said. 

Meanwhile, the leader of Anti-Al Qaeda popular committees, Abdul Latif Al Sayed, said in a press interview Sunday that about 7000 operatives are fighting now with Al Qaeda including 1000 of different nationals. 

Al Sayed, who was himself Al Qaeda leader before he defected last year, said that the majority of the Al Qaeda fighters had training in two schools in his home town of Jaar, which was announced as an Islamic Emirate before Al Qaeda was driven out from it on June last year.

 Al Sayed, survived a number of Al Qaeda-planned assassination attempts, the last of which was in September in Aden when he was very seriously injured and taken to Saudi Arabia for treatments.   

In Radaa,Al Baidha province,  south east of the country, a tribal mediation convinced hundreds of Al Qaeda members and their supporters to stop demonstrations and disappear from streets, said sources Sunday. 

Last Thursday and Friday, Al Qaeda and their supporters took to the streets of Radaa city with guns and Al Qaeda flags to protests the continuous and increasing US drone attacks on their areas. The last drone attack last week, killed three operatives inlucing a middle lever leader in  Al Masaneh area, the stronghold of Al Qaeda In Radaa.

Fresh drone attack kills 3 Al Qaeda operatives,

Al Qaeda warns army in Yemen 

Drones and motorcycles in race again, 

By Nasser Arrabyee,03/01/2013

Three Al Qaeda operatives were killed by a US drone in the south eastern province of Al Baidha, said security and local sources Thursday.

The three operative were driving their car, stolen military vehicle, in the area of Jabal Al Thaleb, between the villages of Khubza, and Al Zuba in the district of Al Kurashyah, Kayfa, Radaa, when the drone hit killing them all and destroying the car.

The sources identified the three operatives as: Mukbel Obad Al Zuba,

Musaed Al Zubairy, and third is unknown.

During 2012, Al Qaeda killed 596 military and security officers and soldiers in different terrorist operations.

While the army and security killed 460 in different operations including the 56 US drone attacks all over the country. 

Earlier in the week, Al Qaeda asked the army in Hudhrmout  to leave their camps and go home or they will be attacked, after US drone attacks in the area.

Al Qaeda operatives gave out to people in the district of Al Sheher where US drone attacks killed seven operatives last week, leaflets warning the troops from staying in their camps or positions any more or they will be killed because their government is  agent and traitor.

Al Qaeda also in their leaflets criticized the clerics of Hudhrmout and Yemen in general for being silent after the attacks of the US drones.

Earlier in the week, Al Qaeda  called for killing American diplomats and soldiers after many of its leaders and operatives were killed by increasing drones attacks.

In an unprecedented and strange step, Al Qaeda promised to give 3 kg of gold as bounty for killing the US ambassador in Yemen Gerald Feierstien and 23,000 $ for killing any of the American marines soldiers who came last September to protect the embassy. 

Announcement of such bounties was a sign that Al Qaeda became weaker, but at the same time it wanted  to exploit the anger caused by the increasing drone attacks especially the mistakes that sometimes happen when innocent civilian are killed by drones. 

Last week, seven Al Qaeda operatives including 2 middle level leader were killed in two different US  drone attacks in the far eastern province of Hudhrmout or more specifically in Al Sheher area.  Five operatives  were killed while driving a car and two killed while riding a motor cycle. 

Two days later,  the US drones killed three Al Qaeda operatives including one middle level leader while driving  in Al Masaneh area, one of Al Qaeda strongholds in Radaa of the south eastern province of Al Baidha. 

In quick  retaliation, the intelligence officer Mute'a Bakutayyan was killed by Al Qaeda gunman riding a motor cycle in the city of Mukalla, the capital of the eastern  province of Hudrmout.

Two military high-ranking officials including one of the  commanders of Hudrmout military region were assassinated in different places  in the capital Sanaa almost at the same time by gunmen riding motor cycles using pistols provided with silencers. 

Brigadier Fadhl Al Radfani commander of Thumoud area in Hudrmout, where Al Qaeda is active, was killed only few meters away from the gate of the ministry of defense in Sanaa. 

Colonel Sameer Al Ghorbani, member of security committee, was killed about one later in an area not far from the biggest military camps in the souethern outskirts of the capital Sanaa.

The government seems to unable to solve the problem of insecurity not only in the remote areas but also in the capital itself. 

 On Monday, December 31, 2012, four  explosive belts were seen early morning by normal people in the street of Abu Dhabi, close to Ans market  in the capital Sanaa.  

The security officials said first it was one explosive bet, then they sent a correction   statement to local medai saying it was not  only one but four explosive belts.

They again said in a new statement the belts found in the street were unknown items.

The last statement published in the website of the ministry of defense said, the belts were only fake belts , they were filled with soil not explosives.

This confusion of the security authorities increased the doubts about an assassination attempt which took place a few hours ago in the same area and the same street where these belts were found.

A tribal leader from Radaa, Al Baidha province survived an assassination attempt when Al Qaeda suspect threw a hand grenade to the car of this tribal leader. Last month security forces defused several explosive  bags in the same place and arrested three people from Al Baidha, where US drone hit many times. 

The last US drone attack was last week  when three Al Qaeda operatives were killed in Al Masaneh, the Al Qaeda strong hold in Radaa, of the south eastern province of Al Baidha. When drones hit targets with accuracy, Al Qaeda doubt about some local tribal leaders that they cooperate with Americans by giving intelligence information about them.

Political assassinations among military and security officials increased over the last few months as Yemen tries to finish the transitional period that is supposed to end in February 2014.

About 70 intelligence senior officers, and 60 military senior  commanders were killed over the last two years in well-planned assassination operations. 

The ministry of interior confirmed that 40 officers were killed by motor-cycle riding gunmen during 2012.

Because of the spread insecurity and weakness of the government in the land and sea exits and entrances,  a lot of weapons shipments were smuggled into Yemen. The conflicting parties including Al Qaeda imported a lot weapons.

At least three  smuggled shipments of Turkish-made weapons were discovered    during this year. 

A Yemeni NGO for combating violence and terrorism accused the Turkish government of killing Yemenis with Turkish guns provided with silencers.

The National Organization for Combating Violence and Terrorism, Kefah, said last week that Turkish government should be held fully responsible for all political assassinations of security and military officials. 

At least three shipments of Turkish weapons, mainly  pistols with  silencers, were confiscated by Yemeni authorities in different ports like Aden, Hodeidah, and Mukalla. The last one was Turkish pistols in Hais district of the western province of Hodeidah.

 The President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi promoted  the soldiers of the check point who discovered the shipment last week  to second  lieutenant  and gave each one of them one million Yemeni Rial, that's about 5,000 US dollars each. 

The organization Kefah, said the Turkish government must say who imported the weapons, and must stop doing all that against Yemen.

If not, the organization warned in a statement sent to local media,  we will file a lawsuit before the International Criminal Court  against the Turkish government and its prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The organization Kefah said that it has copies of the investigations over the shipments of Turkish weapons confiscated recently in Yemen.