By Mohammed al-Kibsi
AQAP militants in Abyan cut off the hand of a 15-year-old after he allegedly stole electrical cables, witnesses said on Sunday.
The militants cut off the boy's hand with a sword in front of dozens of residents of Jaar town of Abyan province, on Saturday evening before taking the limb around town for all to see.
Four witnesses at the scene confirmed the incident took place. They all requested anonymity due to fears of reprisals from militants.
The militants also severed the hand of a 26-year-old man whom they also accused of stealing electrical cables, witnesses said.
"They brought in the accused with a doctor who drugged him and cut off his right hand," one witness said.
The man was then taken to a private clinic while the militants roamed around the town with the cut-off hand, witnesses said.
Under a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, theft is punishable by cutting off the thief's hand.
Jaar is the stronghold of AQAP in the south of Yemen.
On September 10, the Yemeni government announced its troops had regained control over Zinjubar but officials later said parts of the city remained in militant hands.
The town of Jaar remains under militant control and residents say there is currently no government presence in the town.
Yemen has witnessed months of political turmoil since a huge wave of protests erupted in January calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation.
Militants have taken advantage of power vacuum and advanced their influence in the southern provinces of Yemen.
In a September 13 statement, the newly appointed CIA director David Petraeus said that al-Qaeda's Yemen-based branch "has emerged as the most dangerous regional node in the global jihad".
Three weeks ago AQAP militants executed a man in Zinjubar accusing him of adultery.
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