The AQAP battle for Shaqra Abyan lasted one hour or several days
In reporting about Yemen, discrepancies abound. Even before the six month revolution, the dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh was a master of propaganda and constructed complex plots to give the west the appearance of reform or counter-terror cooperation when in fact the reverse was true. By the same token, the newspapers associated with opposition parties have a tendency to skew reporting for political advantage.
The news that AQAP, the Yemeni affiliate of al Qaeda, took over a third town in the Abyan province, Shaqra, has inconsistencies, depending on who is reporting it. The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, based on statements from regime officials, is reporting the battle for control of the town lasted days, but multiple Yemeni sites have eyewitnesses who say the military abandoned the town after an hour of light skirmishes amid retreat. China is a prime purchaser of Yemeni oil and has thwarted Security Council statements denouncing the state’s slaughter of Yemeni protesters.
One eyewitness reported to al Teef, an opposition site, that, “I saw them (al Qaeda members) this morning entering the city on the cars owned by the Yemeni army. They were carrying machine guns and RPG’s.”
Yemenis from all walks, from politicians to street vendors, are adamant that in May the Saleh regime relinquished control of Abyan’s capital Zinjibar to Al Qaeda as a foreign policy strategy, -i.e., to pressure the US into supporting the widely reviled dictatorship.
In July, local tribesmen began a counter-offensive against the al Qaeda fanatics, driving them back from several areas. The Yemeni Air Force then bombed tribesmen, killing dozens along with two Yemeni military officers. State officials said it was a mistake, although tribal fighters had notified the Air Force of their position.
My article today at the Yemen Times covers earlier developments but provides a little more background: Al Qaeda in Yemen alienates local jihaddists
