Uptick in Yemeni Jihaddis to Iraq
Most during 2006
Sanaa: More than 1,000 Yemeni men went to Iraq to fight jihad during 2003 to 2006, most of them during 2006, and around 150 were killed, a local newspaper reported on Monday.
The Al Tajamo weekly paper said that 70 to 75 per cent of the men went to Iraq from Yemen while the remainder went there from other countries. Most of them were young, under 20, and were influenced by extremist religious discourse.
The Al Hekma Charitable Association which is based in Aden, Sanaa and Abyan helped the young men go to Iraq for jihad, the paper said. The Al Hekma association has denied the claim.
