Armies of Liberation

A Yemeni summarizes, “The Yemeni air force is assisting Ansar Al Shariyah (or AlQaidah) fighters in Abyan by attacking the Tribesmen who are fighting Ansar AlShariyah, and the Army is claiming that the Tribesmen didn’t coordinate with the army about their positions? This could be just another proof that the militia who took over Zinjibar are nothing more than employees with The Yemeni regime using them in times of need.”

The 25th Mechanized Brigade is the unit that was surrounded without reinforcements or resupply for weeks and was ordered by the head of the military’s southern command to surrender to AQAP twice. However with the help of local tribesmen (and the retired southern military), they have largely driven AQAP from Zinjibar. The tribesmen and military battling al Qaeda suffered serious losses when they were bombed by the Yemeni Air Force. Two officers, four soldiers and nine tribesmen were killed, and 18 soldiers wounded in the Air Force’s bombing which they claim was a mistake. Salehs army also blocked the road, preventing the ad hoc force from pursuing the militants driven out of Zinjibar.

The commander of the 25th Mechanized earlier said in an interview that that withdrawing army forces left behind a substantial stockpile of weapons. He alleged a conspiracy to empower AQAP based on the actions of the Defense Ministry and Southern Commander, who by some reports was also instrumental in the suicide car bombing in Aden that killed nine soldiers.

How many of hundreds of times is the US going to be suckered by the Salehs before the light bulb finally comes on? Its gotten to the point the US should bomb the four Hueys recently delivered before they are used in a civilian massacre, and maybe take out the rest of the air force as well: all the Air Force is doing is killing civilians, bombing villages and providing air cover for al Qaeda.

The following is a google translation of al Masdar’s report. (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 …)

al Sahwa: Yemen’s defected army in collaboration with tribesmen could halt on Friday ba convey of militants heading the southern town of Zinjibar where government troops.

The defected army supported by General Ali Mohsin Al-Ahmar could defeat al-Qaeda in many areas in Abyan and cleansed several districts from militants who had grasped areas in Abyan after the Yemeni regime help them control the governorate, local sources affirmed.

Local sources said the defected army along with some tribes had secured the road from Shabwa province to Shaqra in Abyan, a main highway leading to Zinjibar which is still controlled by the militants.

Yemen defected generals had accused President Ali Abdullah Saleh of of letting his forces ease their grip around areas suspected of hosting militants, in order to convince foreign governments that only he stands in the way of a militant takeover.

al Masdar reports a senior commander of the 25th mechanized unit alleges a conspiracy by the Southern Military Command and the Ministry of Defense because a) the 25th was twice ordered to surrender to AQAP, hand over weapons and withdraw, b) they have been besieged for weeks without any support, food or resupply of equipment c) the Defense Ministry refused the US demand two weeks ago to supply weapons and food by helicopter (there’s 4 new Hueys, why not use those?) With the support of Yemeni tribesmen he says, they were able to break the siege and make progress.

In an appeal letter to vice president Mansour “Hadi,” clerics and intellectuals demand revealing the persons involved in the Abyan battles

ADEN 18 JULY A number of clerics and intellectuals in Delta Abyan located in Abyan governorate, south Yemen sent a message of appeal to the vice president Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi and called on him to take a series of procedures to be taken with regard to the bloody events which are taking place in the Abyan Delta region by the armed jihadists militant groups.

Armies of Liberation obtained a copy of the appeal letter which included five points as follows:

1) We praises the steadfastness of 25 Mica camp and assured our confidence in the ability of the various branches of the armed forces to liberate the Delta region, therefore demand quickly clinch the battle.

2) Accelerate bringing security forces in the city after its liberation to fixing security and preserve what remains of public and private property, that the state shall ensure safe return for displaced persons to their homes.

3) Reveal the names of the elements whom involved in the fighting and looting operations and submit them to the justice.

4) Establishing fund to rebuild the affected cities and villages and make statistics, develop plans and budget necessary to restore the infrastructure of electricity, water, and other services that fund will manage by group of people of the Delta.

5) Compensate those affected in military operation (dead, wounded and private property) and make necessary limitation to them and consider the dead as martyrs.

SANAA, July 15, 2011

Saleh and Al-Qaeda: Who Empowered Who? BY: Nedhal Moqbel

The current Yemeni scene is full of question marks regarding the country’s present and future. Opponents are still protesting in the North, Southerners are maintaining their call for secession, and violent conflicts dominate the situation of this fragile country. Amidst this dilemma, Al-Qaeda has strongly reemerged and taken over Zinjibar, the capital city of the Southern governorate of Abyan, simultaneously extending its control throughout the entire governorate.

President Saleh did send his intended message to prove right his previous warning. “If I quit, Al-Qaeda could take over,” he once said in response to the mass protests in Taiz and Sanaa. There is no doubt that Saleh is replaying the terrorism card in an attempt to protect his reign. Logically, how could a small number of Al-Qaeda fighters, who came down some Abyan mountains, besiege and defeat two prominent brigades in Abyan (25th Mechanized and Al-Amaliqa)? How could they quickly capture Zinjibar and gain control of the government facilities? How can one believe that an entire government, with huge government troops, could fall into the hands of a few hundred fighters?

On the other hand, one wonders how Southern fighters in Radfan, whose number is much larger that of Al-Qaeda militias, have not been able to defeat only two battalions of government troops there. For several months, these fighters, who came from multiple areas to defend Radfan, could not put an end to their fierce battles with the government forces. These troops have besieged the area, frequently shelled it, and fought with all kinds of weapons.

Therefore, what happened in Abyan was not a real battle but an obvious collusion whose outcome was the handing of the governorate to an armed terrorist group. This collusion reveals close ties and mutual benefits between Saleh’s government and Al-Qaeda, which goes back to the 1990s. Several times, Saleh’s government allowed and eased the escape of a countless number of Al-Qaeda inmates from Yemeni prisons. In 2003, for example, eight of those prisoners involved in the Al-Qaeda Cole operation in Aden escaped, and about twenty-two others followed them later. In 2006, twenty-three Al-Qaeda prisoners fled a Sanaa jail, and much more (around sixty-three inmates) escaped last month from a prison in Mukalla.

Plausibly, Saleh and Al-Qaeda have empowered each other for decades. This group sprang from Saleh’s own Republican Palace to be his fundamental card through which he got more Western support and fought his internal enemies. When the world is angry at him, Saleh would imprison his Al-Qaeda men to calm it down. But when he needs them, the world would wake up to news of their escapes.

In yet another demonstration of the total failure of US CT policy in Yemen, the US trained and equipped CT forces are busy countering the peaceful protesters with violence, while untrained government supporters are armed and roughly organized into militias that will fight the terrorists. The state is also highlighting the new training camp that state jihaddists set up under the government’s nose last month, likely the camp at Qauarir Mountain at Moalla, Aden reported here on 6/22.

By Associated Press, Published: July 3
SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni officials say the government has formed special youth militias to prevent militants linked to al-Qaida from gaining a foothold in the strategic southern port city of Aden.

The officials said Sunday there are signs that the presence of al-Qaida linked militants in Aden is growing. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Authorities in Aden spotted a newly created militant training camp, officials say. They have also detected attempts by militants in Aden to store large amounts of weapons and explosives in rented apartments and houses.

Al Qaeda showing more respect for locals than the US is bad; there should be no comparison. Beyond the drones, Ambassador Feierstein continues meeting with regime officials including military intelligence while ignoring the protesters and their demands. The protest movement nation wide is discussing demanding the US Ambassador’s expulsion from Yemen as a person non grata. This NY Times article accurately covers the Saleh induced developments in Zinjibar.

June 26, 2011
Chaos in Yemen Creates Opening for Islamist Gangs
By ROBERT F. WORTH
ADEN, Yemen — The ancient port city of Aden is now virtually surrounded by roving gangs of Islamist militia fighters — some linked to Al Qaeda — who have captured at least two towns, stormed prisons and looted banks and military depots in southern Yemen.

Yet the Yemeni government, still busy fighting unarmed protesters farther north, has done little to stop these jihadists. Members of the military, the police and local officials have fled their posts across much of southern Yemen. The country’s American-trained counterterrorism unit has not been deployed. It is no surprise that many Yemenis believe the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, intended it all to happen. (Read on …)

Marib Press reports on demonstrations in Abyan against the militants and negotiations for a humanitarian cease fire. Mediators did not meet any known figures of AQAP and the representatives themselves said they were part of the group Ansar al Sharia. Googlish version:

Mareb Press Ansar al-Sharia and reject any mediation or a truce between them and the army, before the departure of the benefit, and the delivery of Aden, and reports on the presence of a number of (militants).

Exposed to local sources in the governorate of Abyan, the presence of mediation, led, currently, a number of religious leaders from the province, and the Sheikhs of Shibuya, to try to cease fire and truce between the Yemeni army forces, and the jihadi groups in control of the show, in order to allow charitable organizations to reach women and children and civilians trapped in areas of confrontation. (Read on …)

The group of state jihaddists in Abyan is headed by Khalidabdul Nabi. Nabi has very strong links to the National Security and regularly works as a mercenary according to other jihaddists, prominent politicians, activists, Yemeni political analysts, local witnesses and all known open source documentation, his own interviews and history going back a decade. The al Qaeda uprising in Abyan is directed and funded by Yemeni counter-terror chiefs, Ammar Ali Saleh and Ahmed Ali Saleh. This new reporting dovetails with the earlier report by Abdullah al Asnag which found that many of the supposed jihaddists are members of the National Security.

Ammar, the de facto head of the Yemeni National Security, was injured in an “auto accident” last Wednesday and taken to al Urdy mil camp hospital. He reportedly has a serious head injury.

One local observer reports the sequence of events as follows: the terrorist group in Abyan is a combination of Ahmed Ali and Amar Ali’s al Qaeda forces plus al Zindani’s jihaddi forces and some of Ali Mohsen’s al Qaeda force; this grouping of so-called “al Qaeda” was attacked (and partially defeated) by the defected military coalition led by General Fisal Ragab along with locals. A division of the army under Ali Mohsen’s command is currently engaged in the battle against militants in the provincial capital of Zinjibar, “to show America that we are serious in the fight against Al Qaeda,” said his spokesman, Abdulghani al-Shumeeri.Then General Ragab’s force, after engaging the militants, was attacked by the government’s military force, naval and air, and the National Security, prompting the withdrawal of Ragab’s forces. The state forces attacked the defected military and southern forces which earlier attacked the “al Qaeda” militants in Zinjibar. ( Video 6/6/11 in Zinjibar shows several dead soldiers lying in the street but its unclear which side they were on.)

New training camp: Witnesses have reported activity at Qauarir Mountain at Moalla, Aden by the al Zindani jihaddi force, where they started some sort of training comp with the knowledge of the government. The phrase “al Zindani jihaddists” is used by many in the south and I am not clear if they are referring to al Iman students or the old school remnants of the Abyan Aden Islamic Army or a combination of both. However through the years there have been several credible reports of new training camps established in the south under the noses (and with the aid of) of the state security forces. Another state operated al Qaeda camp is in wadi Abu Jubarah in Saada.

The real AQAP, al Qaeda of al Wahishi, Awlaki and al Reimi is distinct and, according to some, hasn’t moved, although this interview indicates indicates Awlaki left Shibuya on orders from the authorities, probably right before the US air strike.

AQAP has not disowned the actions of the state jihaddists, as usual, likely because the retention of Saleh is in AQAP’s interests as well. Several terror incidents in the last years were attributed to al Qaeda but likely were false flag operations, carried out by state jihaddists under the supervision of the Yemeni security/intelligence including attacks on foreign nationals.

Meanwhile the residents are paying the price of the these games, with large numbers of citizens displaced from Zinjibar and al Hota. Some men have stayed behind to protect their homes. Photos and video here of the aftermath of the bombing in Ja’ar. AFP reports Yemeni government statements on the battles, over 100 military deaths, an army pull back, as well as missed airstrikes, destroyed homes and civilian casualties since hostilities began three weeks ago.

Medical sources say most of the 200 non-military killed were residents, not militants and not al Qaeda, the National ;

Government raids and US drone attacks in Yemen are focusing on Islamic militant targets in Abyan province, ignoring the more dangerous Al Qaeda stronghold of Shabwa province, a senior defence ministry official said yesterday.

Among the targets has been the Jaar farm of Khaled Abdul Nabi, considered one of the most powerful Islamic militants in Yemen since the early 1990s, according to the interior ministry.

“More than 85 per cent of the fighters killed in Abyan over the last three weeks have not been Al Qaeda members. Militants in Abyan and other areas in the south are well-known Jihadists, but we cannot prove their links to Al Qaeda,” said the official. Last week, the interior ministry said it arrested 10 militants in Aden believed to be fighters with links to Mr Nabi. Qasem Bin Hadi, head of security in Zinjibar, Abyan, said that the majority of the militants killed were terrorists.

“Who said that only Al Qaeda is a terrorist group in Yemen? These militants are causing as much problems for Yemen as Al Qaeda,” Mr Hadi said, adding that Abyan has turned into a ghost town and that clashes between government forces and militants are non-stop.

In an interview, Herak official Nakhebi said that Gen.Maqwala commander of the South Central Military Region Headquarters in Aden is tasked with carrying out the Saleh scheme to hand over the South to the so called al Qaeda. The following article reports that the Southern Movement is accusing Ahmed Saleh, head of the counter-terror forces, of funding the chaos in Abyan, which is quite likely. Below is a report on a propaganda statement purported to be from “al Qaeda” offering a reward for the murder of listed security officials, illogical on its face. Also a recap of analysis noting that most of the insurgents have military training or attended training camps. And al Masdar reports the former Abyan governor says that the militants are not al Qaeda.

Sahwa Net – Secretary-General of the South has accused the son of the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah, Ahmad, of funding armed groups that affiliate to Al-Qaeda with the aim of dominating South Yemen. (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 …)

Since when does Khalidabdul Nabi have transnational reach? Nabi is a long time Saleh operative. If al Nabi is leading the insurgency in Zinjibar, then its only with Saleh’s (and the Four Thugs’) approval and direction. If its the Yemeni government bombing him, its 100% a propaganda ploy. In 2009, al Nabi was on the side of the state in the intra-jihaddidi battle for Ja’ar and well paid for his efforts. It is as Yemeni analysts have said: Saleh pulled back his forces and opened the door in order to create chaos. Saleh said in a self-fulfilling speech that “al Qaeda” will take over four provinces without him.

Nabi said in an interview in 2005, after SAleh returned from visiting Bush, that he is only jailed when Saleh wants to impress the US and for future use against Saleh’s opponents. However if Nabi has linked up his extensive yet localized group of militants with AQAP, it would be a concern, if only for the new pool of US citizens that AQAP would have access to. But Nabi, as he has been for the last decade, is a domestic extremist only interested in imposing his version of strict Sharia on a community. Nabi is like the Taliban to Yemen’s al Qaeda. Nabi has very strong ties to the Yemeni security and intelligence services and acts as a mercenary regularly. Maybe the goal is to wipe out Saleh’s (and Mohsen’s) army of militants that the US ignored, excused and tolerated (and funded) for years as they were used to threaten the west with false flag terror attacks and other elaborate propaganda ploys.

The kidnapping of the two French citizens, like the Germans kidnapped two years ago, like the attacks on the UK ambassador, are state sanctioned terror acts. And instead of bombing the palace, the US is bombing Nabi. Is anybody with a beard fair game? Many of Yemen’s militants spent time fighting in the state sponsored jihad in Saada, including Nabi, as the US was allied with Saleh and condoned the collective punishment of an entire province. In Saada, the military was indoctrinated in hard core takfiri Salifism and soldiers were told Houthi blood is free. Suddenly the US is turning on its former allies by association, the previously acceptable “tribal paramilitaries” are now al Qaeda militants and subject to assassination. Its extremely inconsistent. They are all on the state payroll.

Al Harithy Jr., killed in a drone strike this month, had fought in Iraq and was not sanctioned by Yemeni court for those murderous activities. There was no strenuous objection from the US in 2007 at the time of his sentence. At the same time, the US military is staking US national security to the al Qaeda infested Yemeni security services led by Saleh’s relatives. I’ve previously published the names of the members of the counter-terror units who are also affiliated with al Qaeda. Secretary Gates had no post-Saleh planning as the US disrupted, and continues to disrupt, the progress of the Yemeni revolution. Yemen is a complex environment that requires a multi-pronged approach to vanquish al Qaeda, step for step nearly the exact opposite of current and prior US policy. To paraphrase al Asnag, continued US support for murderous criminals is severely alienating the rest of the nation.

http://www.yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3718&MainCat=3
Governmental war planes bombarded the farms and property of wanted Islamic militant leader Khaled Abdul Nabi in Jaar, Abyan.

Abdul Nabi has been considered the most powerful Islamic militant in Yemen since the late 1990’s. This is the first time the government raid him directly.

Clashes have been ongoing in the province for the last seven hours and officials in Abyan said that three civilians have been killed in today’s raids.

Over the last two weeks of clashes in Abyan, more than 200 people have been killed, a number of them due to US drone attacks.

From the Yemen Post:

A US drone attack took place in Jaar, Abyan, on Saturday injuring six civilians. Eyewitnesses said the attack was expected to be targeting senior Jihadists in the area. No al-Qaeda members were hurt in the attack.Most of the attacks in Abyan have resulted in injuring wrong targets this month. At least 18 US drone attacks have taken place in June, in the highest foreign attack toll on Yemen lands in recent history.

The US is bombing and missing although there is supposed to be a better intelligence stream. In 2009, General Patraeus said the Bedouin locals killed in Abyan by a US missile strike were providing material support to al Qaeda by selling them food, implying the 42 civilians killed weren’t really civilians, and overlooking they had complained about the AQ infiltration to local authorities. What is one supposed to do when al Qaeda moves in? In this case, the residents are actively protesting.

Dawn ADEN, Yemen: Hundreds of residents of a southern Yemeni town in which al Qaeda has embedded itself called on Friday for the departure of the Islamic militants from their neighbourhood, an official said.

“Hundreds of residents of Jaar gathered in front of the town’s mosque to show their opposition to armed groups with links to al Qaeda,” Mohsen Salem Said, a member of the municipal council, told AFP.

He said residents “demanded that these armed men leave Jaar, so it does not befallen the same fate as Zinjibar,” a neighbouring town in Abyan province.

Hundreds of men presumed to be connected to al Qaeda on May 29 took control of Zinjibar after battles with the Yemeni army in which 140 people died, including about 80 soldiers. (Read on …)

A lot of the weapons will likely be sold into the black market for food money. The weapons were destined for the military but they were diverted to para-military forces.

Al Sahwa

Sahwa Net- The commander of the Air Forces Mohammad Saleh Al-Ahmar has distributed 13500 pieces for thugs, loyal to the regime, well-informed sources told Sahwa Net. The sources affirmed that Al-Ahmar, half-brother of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was supposed to distribute 25,000 pieces of AK-47 to arm soldiers and officers of the Air Forces, but that did not happen.

They affirmed that some officers of the Air Forces held a meeting with Al-Ahmrar a week ago and they were promised to receive the weapons, but his promises has not been fulfilled. Meanwhile, dozens of the Air Forces’ officials carried out last week an open strike, demanding to have their financial dues.

To my recollection, a search here on Ammar al Waeli will likely lead to the following history. Al Waeli was the subject of a 2002 FBI seeking info alert generated by an associate of Fawaz al Rabie, killed in 2006. Al Waeli was seen by eyewitnesses on a rooftop in Saada City exhorting residents against the Houthis during the sixth war (2010) while Ali Mohsen’s troops chewed qat. Al Waeli was also involved in the 2009 plot against Saudi CT chief Prince Naif along with Naif al Qatahani. Al Waeli, along with Hamza al Dyanai was allegedly instrumental in the 2007 murder of eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in Marib in a suicide bombing by the (also deceased) Hamza al Qaiti group.

Al Waeli was convicted on terror charges in March. My assumption at the time was he was tried in absentia although the Saleh regime didn’t mention that part. Now in theory he is killed exiting Zinjibar, echoing some southerners reports of the RG attacking fleeing residents. Just keep in mind, Qasim al Reimi was reported dead three times by the Saleh regime. Al Waeli was also reported as killed in Jan 2010. Its important to note that different aspects of the Yemeni regime have relations with different groups of jihaddist mercenaries or state jihaddists as I call them, like al Nabi.

The Jaber al Shabwanis are possibly relatives but certainly tribesmen of the tribal sheik/assistant governor of Marib Jaber al Shabwani who was killed in an errant air strike (by who is still a question, in Marib some insist it was a Yemeni plane) as he was en route to negotiate al Qaeda surrenders. Ali Mohsen said recently Saleh orchestrated the hit on Sheik Shabwani. The sheik was the brother of Ayyed al Shabwani, a know al Qaeda operative.

al Motamar

The source made clear that a number of the organisation leaderships and its dangerous elements have been killed in qualitative operations by army men from brigade 201 and mechanized brigade 35 while those elements were fleeing Zanjibar city.

The source added that the operations led to the killing of terrorist Amar Abada al-Waeli, one of the most dangerous leaders of al-Qaeda organisation and with him seven other elements in addition to killing the terrorist Abu Ali al-Harithi , a leading element in Shabwa province , terrorist Abu Ayman al-Masri , media official in the organisation , terrorist Ali Saleh Farhan ‘amir of the organisation in Mareb province an a number of terrorist elements that came from Mareb province , among them the terrorist Mabkhout Ali Jaber al-Shuwani and wounding his brother Fahad Ali Jaber al-Shuwani .

Late update: Saleh: late night in Sanaa and Taiz, over two hours of heavy gunfire so far from pro-Saleh forces shooting in air at news of his return or good health. Simultaneous in Dhamar, Hadramout. In Aden, govt cars seen shooting live rounds (more celebration?) Over 20 wounded in Sanaa arrive at the field hospital. According to friends in Saudi Arabia, theres no report airing about Saleh’s good health and return, and Mareb Press just retracted the report that Saleh wanted to return in 24 hours. However “celebratory” gunfire continuing for hours already. The RG is going to be cranky tomorrow.

Sanaa: Ali Mohsen meets US, EU ambassadors; forces intercept two attacks on Acting President Hadi’s compound. Reports also disbursed protesters demanding a transition council, near Hadis compound, dozens injured. Vid, al Khaiwani arguing with Askar Zoail, Ali Mohsen’s extremist office manager who incited soldiers with sermons on jihad against the Houthis at a mosque in the fifth Saada war. Al Khaiwani was later nearly kidnapped. Later video indicates Zoali’s forces shooting into the air. See below for Mohsen’s role in Abyan fighting.

JMP: did not meet with Hadi, expect to meet within two days; seek Hadi’s formal declaration that Saleh’s reign is over, threaten to unilaterally create transitional council with protesters.

Protesters: demand transitional council immediately in mass demo, “In Sana’a, a spokesman for the youth-led protesters in the change square outside Sana’a University said, after thousands of people marched Street 60th, they had given a 24-hour deadline for the concerned political parties to form a transitional council otherwise the revolutionaries will do that.”

Taiz: still tense, sporadic clashes on the outskirts of town. The Al Qaeda district is the name of the suburb, not a AQAP hideout. Three killed Maweah and Thikra

Ibb : YP: Government forces clashed with armed tribesmen in Qaeda district, Ibb province, 30 miles off Taiz province. According to the tribesmen, the goal of the tribes is to get rid of all government forces attacking the people. “Security forces are now using this lawless time in the country to loot and attack civilians. We will not allow our people to be attacked and will ensure that they are safe from any attacks from pro govt thugs,” said a tribal fighter.

Hodiedah: roads leading in blocked by pro-Saleh thugs.

Saudi Arabia, “Yemen’s neighbor and the biggest GCC country, said after a June 6 Cabinet meeting chaired by King Abdullah that the proposal is still viable, and called on Saleh to accept it. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, will also send Yemen 3 million barrels of oil to alleviate fuel shortages, Yemen’s state news agency Saba reported yesterday.” ( SFgate)

Saada: Mass protests in favor of the end of the regime and against all plots on the rev.

UNICEF: Yemen facing humanitarian disaster.

State Department briefing; must read

AQAP: a decent analysis at Foreign Affairs of relation between tribes and AQAP and prospect in the post-rev phase.

Zinjibar: reduced to “hell” with fighting among unclear sides: < <"There is a cat-and-mouse game going on in the streets now between the army and armed men. I can't tell who's who among them any more,"... The fighting has reduced Zinjibar, once home to more than 50,000 people, to a ghost town without power or running water.>> Most residents of Zinjibar fled to Aden where many are sheltering in public buildings. The Central Security forces of Yahya are attacking the refugees as they flee.

The armed parties appear to be the national military, local tribesmen, local militants (both Saleh’s and Mohsen’s) and the defected army but I’m checking. Update: Gah!!! Armed members of the southern movement also maintaining security on some roads, and for sure they would be described by the regime as al Qaeda. If this is true, southerners carrying arms and creating their own security checkpoints outside local villages in various governorates, its new. (I deleted the areas where they are deployed or the regime will start bombing them.) It needs to be double checked. But being rebuffed after asking to coordinate security with the international community leaves few options. However as security fails, its likely the Southern Movement will reject new deployments by either Saleh’s forces or Mohsen’s forces. The only possibility is Aliwi who has a better reputation in the south than Hadi (as unlike Hadi he didnt attack civilians in the 1986 civil war, according to local lore.) And Mohsen is Mohsen.

Abyan: Local direct reports indicate military airplanes dropped two bombs today recently. Vid here of warplanes that bombed Abyan City, per local sources.

Another says the attack was on tribesmen who took up arms in the face of military assaults. “Ms. Novak – Greetings – I would like to clarify what is happening today in the province of pilgrimage in southern Yemen as a witness elders – the army is firing different weapons on the housing Almutnyen and Batalli tribes touched by the bombing respond and of these forces and drops dead from both sides.” Still no names on the militants leaders, but likely remnants of the localized jihaddist group AAIA operating under another new name. Upon asking, it seems that most discussions on southern forums regarding Zinjibar are operating on the assumption (as am I) that Khaledabul Nabi* is leading the jihaddists in Abyan but no eye witness confirmation. Ja’ar and Zinjibar are close enough. In 2009, Nabi was fighting on the side of Saleh in the battle of Ja’ar, another jihaddist proxy war.

Update, Southern Yemen: Ali Mohsen’s forces are in Abyan, see YT article Rebel soldiers engage militants, but are described below as “gunmen” so these could be the jihaddists as well. Majority of Mohsen’s soldiers are either graduates of Iman Univ or loyal to Zindani, per local buzz. The defected military issued a statement though that they were going to intervene in Abyan as military, and that may be what is triggering an armed (defensive) response by the southern movement if there is indeed an armed response. When the article below talks about forces loyal to Islah, it sounds like they mean armed militants loyal to Mohsen and Zindani. Maybe this is what Nuba meant by an invasion of Zindanis forces.

So Abyan could be a proxy war between Saleh and Mohsen with both sides using militants and military men and equipment. and the southerners who take defensive positions attacked by both. Now I really have a headache. Saada source comments, “That’s exactly whats happening with al Jawf,” and likely why the Houthis are fighting there, as a defensive measure.

Al Jawf/ Marib: Battles reported and continue over last months between Houthis and “Islahis” in conjunction with Mohsen’s forces, with back up from pro-Saleh forces according to news and local sources. Explains positioning of large amounts of troops there. Both the Mohsen forces and Saleh forces, militants and military, are fighting the Houthis in rotation. These developments bring into question both Mohsen’s alleged reformation and his commitment to the youth rev goals. Maybe he is just out to finally wipe out the Houthis and the Southerners. Clarification: There’s no troops on the al jawf/Saada border. Troops and militias of both Saleh (Republican Guards and militias) and Mohsen’s army and militias are on the border of Aljawf/Mareb and also inside both Aljawf and Mareb. There’s quite a number of troops in Saada but they are non-combative.

Yaf3press: Lapin: genocide and the destruction of cities, “Zanzibar and Jaar .. and forces loyal to the Reform Party (ed-Islah) and Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar involved in control of southern Yemen. (Read on …)

Its General Aliwa and the other high level military commanders who defected from Saleh’s army who are coordinating the engagement of the militants in Abyan. The pro-change military are trying to restore stability in Abyan in the security vacuum that arose after Saleh withdrew forces. Possibly another goal is to burnish their CT credentials and commitment, however the western media is reporting it all wrong. The following article outlines the structure and intentions of the defected military commanders. The forces loyal to Saleh are now primarily the Republican Guard, headed by presidential son Ahmed Saleh, which are staking out the palaces in the main cities; some RG units are locked down in their camps in other regions by locals. However there have been high level as well as low level defections from the RG. The residents displaced by the militants’ take-over exceed the 20,000 estimated by the UN; some are living in schools in Aden.

Rebel soldiers engage Abyan militants, Yemen Times: SANA’A, June 1 — The Yemeni army has continued its military operations against armed Islamists in Zinjibar, the capital of the Abyan Governorate, where the alleged members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took control of the city last Saturday amidst local suspicion that Saleh was responsible of handing over the area to such “terrorist groups”.

Defected military generals issued their first statement on Sunday stating, “Saleh is trying to divide the military forces in Yemen by leaving Abyan governorate to terrorists and to scream about the Al-Qaeda threat to the international community, with the aim of quelling the popular uprisings demanding Saleh’s departure.”

General Abdullah Ali Aliwa, former Minister of Defense, Major Hussein Arab, former Minister of Interior, Major General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, commanders of Yemen’s northwestern region and General Mohamed Ali Mohsen, leader of the eastern area were the top defected military figures who signed the statement.

They vowed, “We will not let Saleh use the army to achieve his ill-dream and will pay for his malfeasance.”

They also called on their colleagues who are still loyal to Saleh to join them for “the best for their nation.”

Saleh’s media sources say that the Islamists who took over Abyan are “members of Al-Qaeda and they benefit from any instability to establish their Islamic state.”

However until now, the armed groups have not yet unveiled their identity. They currently occupy two governmental buildings and carry out raids on security headquarters, targeting soldiers coming from other camps to fight against them.

The fighting in Taiz is largely between the pro and anti governmental factions of Brigade 33 along with some civilian volunteers, not a tribe. Taiz is not a tribal area, only about 40% of Yemen is tribal.
The military/ security forces fell back from major areas but have not left the city. Al Sahwa and ohter local reporting indicates the shell was fired by the Republican Guard forces headed by Saleh’s son Ahmed.

The situation in Abyan continues to flare, 15 killed, often getting greater attention than anything else in Yemen because of the AQ packaging to the media. The opposition continues to insist its another of Saleh’s elaborate ploys: pulling back security, giving the green light to some of the state’s cadre of loyalist jihaddists and then sending the army in small numbers to be overwhelmed. While the situation remains unclear, there is no doubt that Saleh has the requisite lack of ethics required to send Yemeni soldiers to be slaughtered in order to gain a favorable sounding scroll on the cable news tickers. A good overview here at Muftah of basic fragmentation and groupings in Yemen.

MSNBC: Clashes killed 19 people, including three children, in two Yemeni provinces, military and medical officials said Tuesday.
(Read on …)

Mr. / Secretary General of the United Nations, Esquire
M / permanent members of the UN Security Council, Distinguished
Mr. / Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Esquire
Sirs / members of the GCC, Distinguished

After greeting:

Subject: keeping security in southern Yemen

We are pleased to send vest regards and wish you continued good health and
Success in your grave work. As you are aware the current situation in Yemen, and South Yemen in particular, could be leading up to the stages total collapse. Which leads to the formation of discussion of the seriousness of the situation on the local, regional and international as well as on the lines of international navigation in the Gulf of Aden.

We would like to extend to you a proposal to request material to us, and through which we can cover security issues in South Yemen and maintain the security and stability in the region, and the international corridor, and this Itati through Tkdmoh who support us.

We are hopeful and confident of your agreement to our proposal for the benefits of everyone.

Yours sincerely.

Brigadier General / Nasser Ali Al Nubia

President of the Supreme National Commission for the independence of the South.
President of the Supreme Coordination Council of the Assemblies of the retirees military and security officials and civilians

Issued in Shabwah on 03/04/2011

(Read on …)

Certainly in the security vacuum created by the stalled revolution, militants who believe in strict Sharia would try to impose their will on local populations. The pull back of the trained CT units prior to the fall of Abyan to Saleh’s cadre of militants does give rise to questions. As far as I know, AQAP never claimed to have taken over Zanzibar despite widespread media reporting. There was an announcement on the radio station and maybe some internet something. But nothing by Wahishi confirming or denying. The last thing attributed to them as AQAP was a call to AFP by an anonymous leader after bin Laden’s death promising revenge. According to residents, there’s some jihaddists in Azzan, Shabwa but they only come out at night. The reporting from the Chinese news agency though is a serous overstatement and the “local official” quoted is spinning Saleh’s propaganda.

Xinhuanet SANAA, June 1 (Xinhua) — Al-Qaida’s regional branch in Yemen took control over another large city in Yemen’s southeastern province of Shabwa on Wednesday, a week after they controlled the southern Abyan province, local officials and residents said. (Read on …)