Details continue to emerge about fighting in Yemen but the situation there remains highly opaque, with Western media mostly downplaying news of intensified U.S. semi-covert involvement in escalating another Middle Eastern military conflict. -- Yemen Today Magazine reported Thursday that "air raids continued to bomb Rafdh in Shabwa province," where "about 50 al-Qaeda operatives" are said to be hiding.[1] -- Reporting on continuing repercussions of the Dec. 17 attack on a suspected al-Qaeda training camp in "al-Majalah, a mountainous and remote place in Abyan province close to Shabwah [in the] south of the country," Nasser Arrabyee said that the women and children who were killed in the U.S. cruise missile attack were from the al-Haidarah and al-Ambor tribes. -- Arrabyee reported that according to "sources," the al-Qaeda representative who spoke openly at a public meeting at al-Majalah protesting the strike on Monday was "Mohammed Saleh al-Awlaki, from Shabwah," said to be a "relative to Fahd al-Kus'a, who was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000." -- Apologists for the Dec. 17 raid said that women and children were "used as human shields by the terrorists" to shield the camp: "Al-Qaeda is mixed with everyone. It's always families, organizations, mosques, and training camps, so apparently, it was almost impossible discriminate in that strike,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, President of the Democracy Development Institute, a local NGO based in Sana'a. -- The training camp was said to be "only tens of meters" from the village where Al-Qaeda leader Mohammed Saleh al-Kazimi, who was killed, lived, along with relatives, cousins, and his comrades from al-Qaeda. -- "[S]ome local residents of al-Majalah, where the State's authority is almost absent, deny there is a training camp for al-Qaeda," though they do "not deny the presence of al-Qaeda itself," Nasser Arrabyee wrote. -- "'There is no training camp here, al-Qaeda is walking in Sana'a and Aden and everywhere, why [do] they (the government) only strike here?" said Mukbel Mohammed Ali al-Ambori, in an interview over phone from al-Majalah. 'Mohammed Saleh al-Kazimi has the right to live with his family and relatives and cousins in Al-Ambor, and if he is al-Qaeda, then he should be punished alone.'" -- Al-Ambori siad that "A total of 45 women and children, and more than 1000 various animals were killed from the Bedouins of Haidarah and al-Ambor." -- "Despite all criticism, the strike against al-Qaeda is viewed by some analysts as the beginning of the end of at least the training activity in the country." -- One of these analysts was al-Sufi, the president of the NGO; on the other hand, Abdul Elah Haidar Shaya, an "expert in terrorism affairs," said that Thursday's attack "was against civilians, which means al-Qaeda will gain from that strike by recruiting a lot of angry people." -- Yemen's state news agency, SABA, said Thursday that the Dec. 17 attack was "a Yemeni decision carried [out] by Yemeni security units," and said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh had created a "fact investigations committee headed by [the] Abyan governor to investigate" reports of civilian casutalites.[2] -- A SABA report a few hours earlier said that "security forces in Abyan, Shabwa and al-Baidha'a governorates [were directed] to intensify hunting al-Qaeda suspects." -- SABA reports constitute denials of reports that U.S. cruise missiles were used in the Dec. 17 attack, as reported by ABC News and the Long War Journal, and there was of course no mention of reports that U.S. special forces are in Yemen. -- BACKGROUND: The present nation of Yemen, which is about the size of Kansas, was formed in 1990 when the Yemen Arab Republic (formerly Yemen or Northern Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (formerly Southern Yemen, which had been a client state of the Soviet Union) were unified. -- The country consists of a strip of coastal plain runing 700 miles along the southern edge of the Arabian peninsula, interior highlands with the highest peaks in the Arabian peninsula, exceeding 12,000 feet, and the peninsula's highest rates of precipitation (about 20 inches a year) and an eastern desert. -- There are no permanent streams in this extremely dry nation, but Yemen is the most densely populated as well as the most populous country on the Arabian peninsula, with 23.6 million people. -- The social structure of the country is predominantly tribal, especially in the interior. -- There is significant agricultural production, but Yemen, an extremely poor country, is dependent on imports to survive, and oil production is in decline....
1.
AL-QAEDA UNDER FIRE IN YEMEN
By Nasser Arrabyee
Yemen Today Magazine
December 23, 2009
http://www.yobserver.com/local-news/10017803.html
Al-Qaeda in Yemen are vocalizing their outrage of the U.S.-backed attack that killed and arrested dozens of al-Qaeda members in three simultaneous operations in three different places last Thursday, December 17.
The government vowed to continue the crackdown on terrorists, wherever they are, as air raids continued to bomb Rafdh in Shabwa province. There are about 50 al-Qaeda operatives hiding in Rafdh.
Al-Qaeda says that it will strike back against the Yemeni government and its agent, the United States.
Thursday's operations [i.e. on Dec. 17, 2009], which targeted an al-Qaeda training camp in the south and a group of 8 would-be suicide bombers in the north, has gained regional and international support.
Nevertheless, such operations angered many local people because many women and children were killed in the operation. The operations were targeting a training camp in al-Majalah, a mountainous and remote place in Abyan province close to Shabwah [in the] south of the country where al-Qaeda has been enhancing its presence.
In a tribal gathering held Monday in al-Majalah, the tribesmen from both provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, demanded a neutral investigation in what they called a massacre against civilians from the two tribes of al-Haidarah and al-Ambor.
Al-Qaeda was openly present in the gathering with a defiant speaker promising the annoyed tribesmen that the victory against America is very soon.
He vowed to strike the U.S. and its agents in retaliation for the people who were killed in the Thursday's raids.
"The war in Yemen is between al-Qaeda and U.S. and not between al-Qaeda and the Yemeni army," said the man, who was unmasked with an armed bodyguard standing behind him.
Speaking to thousands of tribesmen, he said, "The soldiers should understand that we do not want to fight them, there is no problem between us and soldiers, the problem is between us and America, so, they must not stand with America, the victory is coming soon for us."
Sources, from the site of gathering, identified the man as Mohammed Saleh al-Awlaki, from Shabwah, and that he is relative to Fahd al-Kus'a, who was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.
Observers say it was almost impossible to strike the training camp without casualties from women and children who were used as human shields by the terrorists.
"Al-Qaeda is mixed with everyone. It's always families, organizations, mosques, and training camps, so apparently, it was almost impossible discriminate in that strike,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, President of the Democracy Development Institute, a local NGO based in Sana'a.
Al-Qaeda leader Mohammed Saleh al-Kazimi, who was killed in the operation along with his four family members, was remembered among al-Ambor tribe as a respectable al-Qaeda leader, according to local sources.
Non-Yemeni al-Qaeda fighters and also Yemenis (not from Abyan) were forming a group in al-Majalah under the leadership of al-Kazimi. He was running the training camp, which was only tens of meters from his village where he, relatives, cousins, and his comrades from al-Qaeda live.
However, some local residents of al-Majalah, where the State's authority is almost absent, deny there is a training camp for al-Qaeda, but not deny the presence of al-Qaeda itself.
"There is no training camp here, al-Qaeda is walking in Sana'a and Aden and everywhere, why they (the government) only strike here," said Mukbel Mohammed Ali al-Ambori, in an interview over phone from al-Majalah.
"Mohammed Saleh al-Kazimi has the right to live with his family and relatives and cousins in
Al-Ambor, and if he is al-Qaeda, then he should be punished alone."
"A total of 45 women and children, and more than 1000 various animals were killed from the Bedouins of Haidarah and al-Ambor," said al-Ambori, who is member of the local council of the area of al-Mahfad, which includes al-Majalah.
Despite all criticism, the strike against al-Qaeda is viewed by some analysts as the beginning of the end of at least the training activity in the country.
"The strike was strategic to rescue Yemen from becoming a save haven for the training camps of al-Qaeda," said Al Sufi, who expected a strong retaliation act from al-Qaeda even though.
"So, both governments should stand ready for confronting the possible retaliation attacks from al-Qaeda," he said.
"If al-Qaeda is not dismantled and cleared from Abyan, Shabwa, Mareb and al-Jawf, a disaster to the world, not only to Yemen, would happen," warns al-Sufi.
"Al-Qaeda is only a tool for internationalize the conflicts inside the countries, so it must be uprooted from any country seeking security and stability."
However, Abdul Elah Haidar Shaya, an expert in terrorism affairs, played down the Thursday's operations against al-Qaeda saying they will only increase the new recruitment of al-Qaeda.
"The operation was against civilians, which means al-Qaeda will gain from that strike by recruiting a lot of angry people," he said.
While the government says, 34 al-Qaeda operatives were killed and 30 others were arrested in the three simultaneous operations in Sana'a, Arhab, and Abyan, the local residents in al-Majalah say 45 civilians were killed most of them were women and children.
The autopsies have confirmed that at least 12 dead bodies were wanted by the security authorities as al-Qaeda operatives.
Mohammed Saleh al-Kazimi, Mukbel Abdullah Awadh Shiekh, Ahmed Abdullah Awadh, Methak al-Jalad, Abdullah Awadh Shiekh were confirmed dead in al-Majalah area according to an official statement.
Four others were killed in the operation implemented in Arhab, east of Sana'a province, where 8 would-be suicide bombers were planning to target Yemeni and western interests. The other four were arrested.
Two Saudi nationals, Ibrahim al-Najdi, Mohammed Rajeh al-Tharan, both wanted as al-Qaeda operatives, were found among the dead bodies.
Five more foreigners, with unknown identities, were also found.
Four other al-Qaeda injured men, Abdullah Salem Ali, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Kaed, Haidarh Salem Alia Fatah al-Amri, and Mohammed Ali Salem, were arrested later in a hospital where they are now having treatment under the supervision of the security authorities.
Inside the Yemeni capital, more than 29 al-Qaeda members were arrested on the same day of these operations.
The 29 men, aged 20s, were supposed to help the 8 would-be suicide bombers of Arhab to implement their tasks against Yemeni and Western targets. The arrests took place without any clashes as the raids on the houses were according to very accurate information about the men.
The leader of al-Qaeda in Arhab area, Aref Mujali, brother of Hezam Mujali who escaped the raid, was arrested in the operation.
Aref and Hezam Mujali are the sons of Yahya Mujali, an al-Qaeda operative who was killed in his house in clashes with security forces in al-Rawdha area in the city of Sana'a in 2003.
The leading member of al-Qaeda Fawaz al-Rabyee got married to the daughter of Mujali before he was killed in a hunt down operation at an outskirt of the capital Sana'a in 2006.
2.
YEMENI SECURITY UNITS CARRIED OUT RECENT ATTACKS AGAINST AL-QAEDA, SAYS AL-ALIMI
Yemen News Agency (SABA)
December 23, 2009
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news201390.htm
SANA'A -- The decision of recent air raids against al-Qaeda in Abyan province and Arhab district of Sana'a was a Yemeni decision carried [out] by Yemeni security units, deputy prime minister for defense and security told the parliament on Wednesday.
Rashad al-Alimi said that the operations was done by benefiting from intelligence information within cooperation between Yemen and other countries like Saudi Arabia and United States of America in domain of combating terror, al-motamar.net reported.
The deputy prime minister added that security unit launched raids on al-Majalh village of al-Mahfad district in Abyan last Thursday after having confirmed information that there was a training camp for al-Qaeda in the region.
The attack resulted in killing 23 al-Qaeda elements including Yemenis and non-Yemenis, he said.
Al-Alimi blamed al-Qaeda responsibility of claming life of civilians who are families of these elements brought to cook for them, saying that a fact investigations committee headed by Abyan governor to investigate in the event.
The committee was formed by president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Regarding attacks in Arhab district, the deputy prime minister said that the security bodies received information about possibilities of carrying out terror suicide attacks by eight al-Qaeda elements in Sana'a capital targeting British Embassy and foreign schools.
The attacks resulted in killing three al-Qaeda elements and arresting other three, he added.
Al-Alimi talked in the parliament session about al-Qaeda plots to establish Islamic emirates in some provinces of the country, saying that al-Qaeda has launched 61 terror attacks since 1992 targeting foreign embassies and tourists places and killing senior security commanders.
He also said that these attacks damaged the economy of the nation as the tourist sector loses around 144 million yearly.
The deputy minister pointed out to the efforts of the government to combat terrorism, saying that the country has set up National Security Body, Coastguard, and other new anti-terrorism security and military units.
3.
YEMEN QAEDA SUSPECTS HUNT AFTER 'MODEL SECURITY OPERATION'
Yemen News Agency (SABA)
December 23, 2009
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news201345.htm
SANA'A -- The ministry of Interior has directed the security forces in Abyan, Shabwa, and al-Baidha'a governorates to intensify hunting al-Qaeda suspects.
The order comes amid confirmations terrorists in the district of Lawder, Abyan, are planning to retaliate after the successful security operation against al-Qaeda training sites in the south and north in which dozens of al-Qaeda suspects were killed and arrested.
The security forces must be placed on high alert to thwart possible attacks by al-Qaeda and beat the movements of terrorists among the cities.
The ministry also directed terrorists across the republic to be hunted around the clock to preserve peace and safeguard vital interests.
Last Thursday, anti-terrorism troops launched ground and air strikes against al-Qaeda hideouts and training sites in Abyan in the south and Sana'a in the north killing and arresting about 63 supsects.
34 terrorists were killed, most in the district of Almahfad, Abyan, and other 29 arrested, some in the district of Arhab, Sana'a.
The operations were hailed by regional and international allies of Yemen, topped by the U.S. which said they were a model, affirming further support for counterterrorism efforts in Yemen.