by Jim Kouri | Examiner.com | May 30, 2011
Besides the rebellion, the Yemeni military and police must combat the threat of al-Qaeda. Credit: Getty Images
Al-Qaeda terrorists invaded a provincial city in Southern Yemen, declaring itself victorious in its battle against the Yemeni government and its American supporters. The invasion and control of that provincial capital has increased fears that the country's political crisis is becoming more severe.
A counterterrorism source told the Law Enforcement Examiner that Zinjibar, a city on Yemen's southern coast, has a population of close to 20,000 people. The source said reports describe over 200 masked Islamist, many of them members of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) launched an attack that began on Friday afternoon.
The terrorists are accused of looting the businesses and some homes, burning down buildings, and launching violent death squad raids that left corpses laying in the city's streets.
According to the Law Enforcement Examiner's source, by Sunday the militants had taken the city largely unopposed after most of the Yemini government troops who were posted there retreated leaving the al-Qaeda fighters to pillage the town.
Thousands of civilians fled the city, despite appeals broadcast through loudspeakers and bullhorns requesting the townspeople to return to work and not to fear al-Qaeda, their liberators.
"They burned down buildings and said they were going to establish an Islamic caliphate," one resident told the Yemeni police. "People are very scared," he reportedly said.
Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula has emerged as a powerful force since its leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, Osama bin Laden's former secretary, escaped from prison in 2006 and rebuilt the group after it had been shattered in a US predator drone strike ordered by President George W. Bush in 2002.
It has since been involved in a number of attempted attacks on US soil, most notably an attempt by one of its recruits to bring down an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009, with explosives hidden in his underpants.
The group has officially been classified as posing the single biggest threat to US homeland security.
Yemeni's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has always posed as a strong opponent of al-Qaeda, but, in a country known for its complex political and tribal alliances, he has also forged close relationships with powerful Jihadis who fought with Bin Laden against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Some intelligence sources familiar with Yemen's idiosyncrasies have stated that the weekend attack on Zinjibar was actually led by an Islamist, Khalid Abdul Nabi, who has ties to the president.
YEMEN THREATENS U.S.
In January, 2010, following the failed Christmas bombing attempt in a plane landing at Detroit's International Airport, a group of Imams from mosques in Yemen sent a message to President Barack Obama threatening to declare Jihad (holy war) if any foreign troops attempt to assist Yemeni forces in battling the growing number of al-Qaeda terrorists operating and training in their country.
The announcement was believed to be directed specifically at U.S. government officials who are assisting Yemen in its counterterrorism operations. The Islamic leaders said that their call for Jihad will be initiated if any troops land in Yemen or are present within that nation's territorial waters.
Yemen's recent history is one of violence and civil wars. The central government does not control several regions of the country and armed warlords and their militias are a source of instability within the central government.
According to intelligence sources, the Yemeni government observes an unwritten policy of ignoring the activities of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda which, after being pushed out of Afghanistan, has taken a foothold in Yemen and practically duplicated what the terrorists once had thanks to the Afghan Taliban rulers.
While there are no indications that the U.S. is planning to "put boots on the ground" in Yemen, the government has increased its anti-terrorism assistance to its military. Britain has also indicated it too would provide assistance to the Yemeni military and security forces.
Last year, the U.S. increased counterterrorism assistance to Yemen with $67 million in military aid. In addition, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's office unveiled a plan to provide development assistance in the amount of more than $60 million to that impoverished nation in the fiscal year 2011.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/al-qaeda-fighters-invades-yemeni-city-military-retreats
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