Violence Spirals in Southern Yemen
Corporal Fawaz Abdullah Ali Khaled Alkamali was killed on November 28th, about 70 KM south of Ataq on the road to Aden as he was en route to Taiz for Eid. The attackers stopped his taxi and searched the passengers for ID cards. When they discovered Alkamali was a northerner soldier, they dragged him out of the taxi an killed him. The killers sent a warning to the government with the passengers that the “southerners will no longer be quiet for the numerous murders committed by the government against our protesters.”
On the 29th two brothers driving to Aden from Sanaa were stopped near Al Habilain and shot dead by an unidentified group. Their car and possessions stolen.
On the 29th, a family driving from Taiz to Aden was stopped in Al-Milah, Lahj. The father was killed as his wife and his children watched. The attackers were identified as members of the pro-regime vigilant group, the Committee to Protect Unity, responsible for numerous attacks including against the delivery van of Al-Ayyam newspaper on May 1, 2009. (The head of the CPU was received by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on May 29th 2009 in Sana’a.)
On November 30th, several northern tribes set up check points on the road from Aden to Sanaa to avenge the killings of tribal members by targeting southerners destined for Sana’a from Aden. The tribes included the Al-Radama Tribe in Ibb, the Mourees Tribe in Qataba, and the Anss in Dhamar.
The last few months have seen an increase in northern soldiers’ desertions from southern postings. Soldiers may fear redeployment to Sa’ada, or targeting at their posts as instability increases. Rumors of a coup in Sana’a a few weeks ago may have added to the soldiers insecurity. Oil and gas Facilities are among the Saleh’s regimes most vital installations requiring military protection, further stretching available forces.
ADEN, Yemen, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Yemeni security forces spread out across the southern port city of Aden on Monday, clamping down on any display of secessionist sentiment on the anniversary of the south’s independence from Britain.
Residents said hundreds of soldiers lined the streets of Aden, where southern activists had been planning a festival to commemorate the day the last British soldier departed in 1967.
In the run-up to the anniversary several clashes erupted between the Sanaa government and southerners, who have long complained that northerners abused a 1990 unity agreement to exploit their resources and discriminate against them.
Southern activist websites said security forces had blocked off all entrances to Aden, where the authorities had told people not to hold gatherings or demonstrations without a permit.
On Sunday, activists shot dead a soldier in the southern province of Shabwa. A second soldier died of wounds inflicted in fighting there on Wednesday, a security official said….
Secessionists also clashed with the armed forces in the Radfan region on Sunday, when one person was killed and a grenade hit the local intelligence headquarters, the same official said.
Members of the activist Southern Movement killed three northerners in two carjackings, the state-run website September 26 (26sep.net) said. But the pro-southern website adenpress.com quoted Nasser al-Khabji, a leader of the movement, as denying its members were involved in the incidents….
((raissa.kasolowsky@thomsonreuters.com; +971 4 391 8031; Reuters Messaging: raissa.kasolowsky.reuters.com@reuters.net))
