Armies of Liberation

Sounds bad, kind of a vehicular Mumbai style swarm. There’s no way the US embassy doesn’t know this already though right? The article was published last night at 9pm. Also note there’s sources and there’s security sources. This is but one reason why freedom of the press is so important in Yemen–open source AQAP reporting. There’s history and links to news articles on Ibrahim al Banaa below.

Related: Yes they are apparently all over it. US drones strikes kill 25 in Yemen overnight:

US drones raided several hideouts of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda wing in the southeast restive province of Al-Baydha on Friday night. At least 25 AQAP militants were killed, including senior figures, with several other militants being wounded in an air strike conducted by the United States forces according to local website news…Moreover recent news that al-Shaba’a, the Ethiopian al-Qaeda wing had sent hundreds of Jihadists over to Abyan to join in Ansar al-Sharia, has been the cause of great concerns for both the government and the civilian population, as they feel their land could become the ground of a mighty war.

Ethiopians? al Shaba’a? 1) Maybe these are the nine mystery ships that everyone is talking about arriving before last Sunday’s attack on the military base in Abyan that killed nearly 200 Yemeni soldiers and 2) How weak is AQAP that they need to import fighters?

There’s also reports of drone strikes in Jaar, Abyan that destroyed the military equipment AQAP captured from the army last week-end. Update: The al Baydah airstrikes hit the AQAP training camp and targeted local al-Qaeda leader Abdulwahhab al-Homaiqani, the BBC reports. Its always good when there are no immediate reports of civilian casualties, I would have heard by now.

The Yemeni soldiers captured (who weren’t beheaded or otherwise mutilated) were paraded around Jaar, forced to train the terrorists on how to operate the tanks, and now are threatened with execution if the govt doesn’t release AQ prisoners.

The YO article regarding reports of an impending attack follows: Yemen Observer:

Yemen based al-Qaeda plans strikes on Sana’a and Mukala Reliable sources have said that al-Qaeda has been preparing for its largest operations yet in the capital city of Sana’a, operations aimed at strategic sites including military and security installments and embassies.

Sources said that al-Qaeda cells in the areas of Zindan and Arhab have trained for operations involving the storming of fortified sites, attacking fixed and mobile targets while aboard vehicles and motorbikes, and that al-Qaeda militants have entered Sana’a in preparation for carrying out their attacks in the coming few days.

The sources expect that al-Qaeda’s potential targets include the Airbase in Sana’a, the Interior Ministry, Republican Guard units and a number of embassies, including the American embassy.

The sources confirmed information regarding intentions by al-Qaeda to attack Mukala to divert attention its plans in Sana’a.

Security sources said that over 400 al-Qaeda militants are currently in Shabwa’s Azan Directorate, with three al-Qaeda leaders in charge (Ibrahim al-Bana, an Egyptian, Qasem al-Rimi and Shaker Hamel) of plans to attack vital installations, security sites, and important government facilities as part of a plan to expand their so-called Azan Islamic state to Mukala. (Read on …)

Yemen Post: Yemen’s interior Ministry has disclosed on Wednesday that Al-Qaeda has a “terrorist” plan to attack Al-Mukallh of Hadhramout governorate with the aim of declaring it as an Islamic Emirate.

In its website, it said that 300 of Al-Qaeda operatives including three leaders, Ibraheem Al-Bana’a, Egyptian Nationa, Qasim Al-Raimi, and Shaker Hamel were planning to attack strategic government facilities, military and security camps.

This Ibrahim al Banna? ( http://armiesofliberation.com/?s=ibrahim+al+banna) The undead, previously arrested, tried & convicted somehow free again long time al Qaeda operative? You can just keep clicking the links and trackbacks from post to post. I’m too tired. Supposedly Ibrahim the Egyptian was arrested in Hadramout in 2008 (after the lethal January ambush of a Belgium tourist convoy in Shibam), tried in 2010, and killed in 2011, but then he wasn’t dead after all and it turned out that many of the 21 charged with the terrorist murder of the two elderly female tourists and two Yemeni guides were convicted in absentia.

Qasim al Reimi is also among the repeatedly undead; declared as killed by the Yemeni government at least three separate times although he remains very much alive. Shaker Hamel was arrested and tried with al Banna and apparently is still hanging out with him. Cozy.

(My Ibrahim al Banna search also returned Jaber Elbaneh results but that’s the Lackawanna NYer/al Farouk grad who we haven’t heard from lately. His is another bizarre story that would almost be funny except he’s al Qaeda.)

Barak Obama’s friend, the war criminal Ali Saleh departed the US and is back in Yemen. Saleh’s immunity is a central part of the US sponsored “transition” plan that followed a 48 million dollar, single candidate (sham) “election.”

Yemen’s first new president in 33 years, Abdo Mansour Hadi, previously Saleh’s Vice, was sworn in on Saturday. Hadi received 6.6 million votes of 10 million registered and two million eligible new voters. On election day, the electoral commission said 13 million votes were printed and they had run out of ballots during the day.

Also on Saturday, a suicide bomber in a slow moving pick-up truck killed 28 soldiers in Hadramout. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility via a text message to Reuters.

Link save: April 9, 2010, Yemen National Dialog Coalition Seeks Reform, Broad Political Inclusion

Yemen Post reports the demands are money and the release of imprisoned terrorists, but the demands themselves and the timing of the kidnapping, following a French call for Saleh to step down, the odd video without any al Qaeda characteristics, the tension with (if not expulsion of) the French ambassador for his remarks, the bombing of TOTAL’s pipeline and the pending UN resolution may all indicate the statement is yet another attempt by the Sana’a regime to spin the media away from the slaughter in the capital.

The situation echos that of the German hostages, a crime thought committed by Saleh loyalists linked to drug smugglers and al Qaeda. As the recent West Point paper pointed out, many of the security officials murdered by al Qaeda were in fact counter-narcotics agents, and that’s another area where the footprints of al Qaeda and the Sana’a regime overlap.

Obama should grab that sleazy slimy mass murderer rat Saleh by the throat and throttle him until he gives up these and all the Yemeni hostages. Dozens more severely wounded Yemenis were kidnapped by security forces in the last days, including women, but likely the Yemenis will get much less publicity. The regime has got to go.

Yemen Post: French Hostages in Yemen Face New Challenges

On May 28th, 2011, 3 French aid workers were kidnapped in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadramaut as they were conducting a field trip near Sayyun. (Read on …)

Damn. Its so shocking to see a video like that in Yemen but at least there’s no mention of AQAP or an AQ flag behind them. Article at al Masdar (ar). They were kidnapped after France expressed support for the revolution and urged Saleh to step down immediately.

Update: In French, each said his name and then the man speaks, apparently reading from a paper in front of him, that they were abducted in Yemen. The French man says that he was speaking on the 102 day since the abduction, which means it was registered before five days.

He said that the French government did not do anything for their cause, to free them, and directed his appeal to the French people, before the end of the video cuts off his words.

ah better. English:

ADEN — Three French aid workers feared to have been kidnapped in Yemen appeared in an online video on Monday nearly 11 weeks after they went missing, saying their abductors’ demands have not been met.

Al-Masdar Online, an independent Yemeni news website, posted the video on its website showing a man and two women, and saying that they were the French aid workers taken hostage in the southeast on May 28.
(Read on …)

Ammar wants new toys? There was never a legitimate ransom demand from al Qaeda in Yemen in the past. Its interesting the regime knows the hostages are in good health. But then again, Saleh’s network has many conduits to “al Qaeda.” The French workers were kidnapped after France made a statement urging Saleh to leave the throne immediately.

News 24: Sanaa – Three French aid workers who were kidnapped in southeastern Yemen are held by al-Qaeda members who are seeking a $12m ransom for their release, tribal sources said on Wednesday.
(Read on …)

One guard was killed during the 8 am prison break by 63 prisoners through a tunnel 35 meters long, some were convicted some never tried, many arrested for traveling to Syria to go the Iraq. From Bakeel.net the info and the names are here.

a) the prison warden was replaced two weeks prior to the escape

b) 12 dangerous al Qaeda transferred in to the Hadramout prison from Sanaa prison prior to the escape (just like Jaber Elbaneh was transferred into Sanaa prison before the 2006 escape)

c) later Wednesday firing heard from jail and strange men wandering the streets with guns asking for water

d) use of a drill (like Sanaa escape 2006, as I noted at the time) (Read on …)

The escape is one part of the state’s plan of generating al Qaeda chaos. There is a high likelihood that the escape was arranged by the head of the security forces like Ahmed, Saleh’s son or one of the nephews. These officials are also the US’s important partners in counter-terror efforts and have been the recipients of millions in counter-terror funding.

The Saleh regime has repeatedly released al Qaeda prisoners over the years often in exchange for support as mercenaries. Individual jihaddis were released to go fight in Saada, but larger scale escapes and releases (like the 109 released in 2009 or the escape in 2006) are a habitual characteristic of the Saleh regime and generally part of a much larger deal. . The international media is uniformly reporting idiotic statements like this from Fox: Wednesday’s escape was the latest sign that Yemen’s months-long upheaval has emboldened Al Qaeda militants to challenge authorities in the country’s nearly lawless south. No, they are not challenging the authorities but working in concert with them.

Yemen Post: 62 Al-Qaeda Prisoners Escape Yemen Prison
At least 62 suspected al-Qaeda prisoners escaped from the central security prison in the southern city of Mukalla Wednesday morning.

One security personnel was killed as well as a prisoner. The security official said that a number of the escaped prisoners were arrested after coming back from Iraq, where they were fighting American forces. This is considered the biggest prison breakout for suspected al-Qaeda suspects.

Opposition forces are blaming senior military officials with close links to President Saleh for allowing and easing the escape of al-Qaeda prisoners to cause chaos in the south and get more US support and prolong the Saleh regime.

This comes at the time where the assistant secretary of state is visiting Yemen. He said the the majority of the escapees had court sentences of over five years in prison on terror charges.

More to come

Sahwa Net- Well-informed sources have accused a high-ranking military commander close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh of plotting to release Al-Qaeda suspects in Hadhramout governorate. (Read on …)

Many foreigners, dozens, have been kidnapped in Yemen by tribes over the last decade and all have been returned without harm. The timing of this is off though. Some are saying that since the “AQAP take-over of Abyan” didn’t generate a US reversal, Saleh is continuing to play on AQ fears with this incident. Maybe his forces will find and rescue them into order to put Saleh in a good light.

BBC: Three French aid workers are feared kidnapped after going missing in southern Yemen, officials say. The three are reported to have gone missing in Hadramawt in the south-east.

They had been in Seyun since mid-April working for Triangle Generation Humanitaire, a French NGO working in Yemen since 1998. (Read on …)

The spree continues, Yemen Post

At least three people were killed, including two soldiers and another wounded in Yemen’s southern province of Hadhramout.

Private sources said that suspected Al-Qaeda militants attacked a governmental patrol vehicle at a checkpoint belonging to the Central Security Unit in Mukalla, killing two soldiers and a civilian and wounding another. (Read on …)

A follow up to our earlier story Nehm tribes take tanks from army, when the tribe prevented the RG from deploying to Hadramout to crack down on the protesters there. The term “heavy weapons” here likely means Kastushka type rockets, mortars etc and represents an escalation of tactics.

Sahwa Net- The Republican Guard bombed on Saturday night Nihm and al-Haima districts of Sana’a governorate as a retaliation of their support to the Yemeni revolution, local sources told Sahwa Net.

The sources said the Republican Guard used heavy weapons wounding two children, an elderly man, and damaging a number of houses.

They said that residents of Al-Haimah and Nihm refused to allow forces of the Republican Guard to enter their areas due to their involvement in killing peaceful protesters in Sana’a.

Meanwhile, major cities witnessed near-daily civil disobedience as shops, schools, private companies and banks were shut down at the request of the protest organizers to force Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power.

The same story as reported by the YT, notes dozens of homes destroyed by shelling, the RG deployed 200 soldiers in the area.

The Yemen Times: SANA’A, May 15 — For the fourth day in a row, Republican Guard soldiers under the command of Ahmed Saleh have been engaged in ongoing attacks against villages surrounding the Al-Manar military base in the Al-Haima area, 60 KM outside of the capital Sana’a, local sources told the Yemen Times. (Read on …)

Isn’t the 101st the brigade the state denied creating for Saleh’s son when the reports first came out some months ago? This is how the Houthis got a bulk of their weapons during the Saada Wars, from the Yemeni army.

5/10 News Yemen: Yemeni tribal gunmen from the tribes of Nehm, 40 km east of the capital Sana’a, prevented on Tuesday the army from passing to Hadramout province, southeastern Yemen, to repress anti-regime protests.

Local sources said that clashes broke out between forces of the 101 Infantry Brigade and the tribal gunmen who rejected to allow any military force to pass through their territory to crackdown protesters in Hadramout.

The sources added that the army used heavy weapons and warplanes to bomb the tribal men who blocked the main road in Nehm against the 101 Infantry Brigade’s forces, headed by son of President Saleh, but could not unblock the road.

There have been previous reports on casualties among tribesmen and soldiers, but local sources said that only one tribesman was wounded. Sources said that soldiers had surrendered and handed over personal weapons, armored military vehicles and tanks and returned to the capital.

Better translation: local security committee arrests men trying to plant IED targeting foreign oil workers. The bombers drove a military car. Its all part of Saleh’s plot of promoting chaos and al Qaeda to appear irreplaceable in Western eyes.

Marebpress The terrorist ride military truck ,the According to local sources familiar with the “Marib Press: ” A group of citizens of the People’s Committees entrusted with the task of protecting the property of citizens and public institutions in the region Cake thwarted Tuesday morning, a terrorist operation targeting foreign workers in the port of export oil in Dhabba Hadramout. And away the Shehir zone near oil field 50 kilometers east of the city of Mukalla. The sources added that four people traveling in a car Has unnumbered military were about to do planting a land mine next to the main road that passes near the site of oil is connected by wire to a remote bomb, but that elements of the People’s Committees the main dirt drive , which led to the arrest of one of whom subsequently fled Three others on board the vehicle, while the mine was detonated safely in a remote place.

ah English, Yemen Post says land mine, military men and Nexen:

An investigation is underway into a failed attack against foreign experts in Yemen’s eastern province Hadramout, which military plotters are believed to be behind, a local popular security committee said.
Sadiq bin Tair, head of the committee in Shuhair area in the district of Ghail BaWazeer, told the Alsahwa website that the plot targeted experts from the Canadian Nexen Petroleum.
A landmine was planted on the road where two experts escorted by a security patrol passed but no casualties were reported, the website said.
Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that they observed in the early morning a man in military uniform and another believed to be a soldier out of uniform at the explosion site and that there was a car with an army number plate beside them.
One of the two suspects was arrested and handed to the authorities and the second, who was watching the site, ran away after the explosion.
The incident followed the bombing that targeted a security patrol last week leaving three of those were inside it injured and amid the escalation of the anti-government protests across the republic.

the old governors were reassigned to the Shura council.

New governors swear constitutional oath
[05/مارس/2011]
SANA’A,March 05(Saba) – The newly appointed governors and the Shura Council’s member took on Saturday the constitutional oath before President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The newly appointed governors are Aden Governor Ahmed Mohamed Qatabi, Hodeidah Governor Akram Abdullah Atyah, Abyan Governor Saleh Hussein al-Zawari, Hadramout Governor Khalid Saeed al-Deni and Jawf Govenror Yahya Mohamed Ghobar.

Furthermore, the newly appointed member of the Shoura Council Salem al-Khanbashi also sworn the constitutional oath before the President.

President Saleh held a meeting with the new governors and urged them to double their efforts in this posts, directing them to work to address the citizens’ problems and issues in their

Yemen Post

President Ali Abduallh Saleh dismissed on Tuesday governors of five provinces in Yemen’s southern and eastern provinces.
New decrees were issued appointing three of them members in Shura Council, and appointing the two others vices of two ministries. (Read on …)

Update: yesterday’s report of possible fatality at this protest is revised to head shot and unconscious, one student was shot in the leg among other injuries.

Student protesters in Mukallah, Hadramout yesterday. As reported below, the protesters were later attacked with live fire and tear gas, several injuries and arrests but it appears the early report of one fatality was incorrect.

Note 2/24: report of possible fatality at this protest is revised to head shot and unconscious, one student was shot in the leg among other injuries.

An eye witness report collected by a reliable source, working on secondary confirmation. Update: second report below describing widespread protests in Hadramout with serious injuries, and third report of security firing on medical workers in southern provinces. al Masdar also reporting protests and live fire with injuries in Mukallah, Hadramout. Update: Kenda, the female activist in Hodeidah whose arrest I wrote about here remains in jail. Also, many resignations from the ruling GPC, seven MP’s and others.

Many major city in south are protesting. Today in Mukalla (Hadramout) high school students protested in morning. It was peaceful. Later Central Security forces attacked the students and were shooting live bullets. An eye witness reported that more than 20 were arrested and 5 injured. Two students are in serious condition. Later Central Security forces along with thugs of the regime were breaking shops and cars and stoning peaceful protesters in Mukalla.

Yesterday woman was knocked over by police car. One teenage died in Mukalla from gunshot wounds. The eye witness also reported injuries and live bullets were shot towards protesters. The teenagers burnt a police car and blocked roads after news of the fatality spread.

These protesters were not south movement. Please be informed that the students were protesting against regime and asking for it to step down.

Update: Also Hodeidah via al Masdar Online paraphrase Dozens of security men in civilian clothing attacked dozens of protestors in front of People’s Park in Hodeidah Governorate. Protesters were in favor of dropping the system (the Saleh government) on Wednesday. More than 10 protesters were wounded in the attack of the “bullies”, and they used batons to disperse the protestors who refused to leave the place.

Hadramout email update: Students of primary and secondary schools came out today in demonstrations and rallies demanding to bring down the system in the whole city of Hadramout and other cities in the south. The Central Security Forces used live bullets and batons to disperse them and until now cars of the security and police including armored vehicles are deployed in the streets and neighborhoods. The security forces have opened fire on ambulance crews to prevent them from doing their humanitarian duty particularly in Aden and Hadramout and the whole southern provinces. .

Council of the Alliance of Marib and Al-Jawf tribes denounces the massacre of Aden and salutes Tai’z youth, the station of change and train engine of freedom: Mareb Press.

To recap, both Saleh’s allies and opposition are experiencing fractures. The pillars of the regime are peeling away and causing some polarization of the public. Hussain al Ahmar from Amran is promising Hasid tribal protection for the protesters in Sanaa. The tribes in Marib and al Jawf are throwing in with the democracy movement. al Zindani is calling for replacing the regime with a national unity government and for the people to go peacefully to the streets. Two youth different groups were calling for nationwide protests on the 24th and 25th, but I think its going to happen tomorrow whether they are ready or not. The JMP however has not revised its position to advocate the fall of the Saleh regime, only change and reform. (Read on …)

One escapes. Why don’t the drug dealers or tribesmen ever escape prison?

YP An Al-Qaeda suspect escaped from an Aden hospital, with reports suggesting an unknown group could have infiltrated into the hospital and helped him escape. Amin Al-Sayed was arrested along with four other terrorist suspects last week, and was hospitalized at the BaSuhaib military hospital. Last week, the authorities announced the arrest of almost ten Al-Qaeda suspects in Abyan and Hadramout, amid the continuous hunt for and large-scale operations against AQAP militants, mainly in southern, southeastern and eastern regions.

Yemen Post: A Yemeni court specialized in the cases of terrorism in Hadramout sentenced four suspected Al-Qaeda militants between three to five years in prison. (Read on …)

Update Yemen Post: 1/28/11, Yemen’s Interior Ministry website said that the six suspects were arrested in Al-Shihr district after being hunted by the security apparatus within the province.

Original: 10 million YR is about $50,000 Some sources of Saudi funds have dried up in the last year, and increased Saudi border patrols as well as Houthi dominance of some border areas have impacted drug smuggling.

As Nassar Arrabyee notes: The incident might be the first after the American-Yemeni extremist cleric Anwar A Awlaki instructed Al Qaeda operatives to finance themselves from the money of the “enemies and Qafer”. The instructions came in an article published in the latest issue of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) magazine , Inspire, earlier this month.

al Masdar, 1/26/11

Four soldiers were killed and a local official shot dead by gunmen believed to belong to al-Qaeda in the province of Hadramout, southeastern Yemen. (Read on …)