Al-Qaeda in Yemen assassinates pro-government tribal militia leader

Source: Yemen Observer www.yobserver.com

A pro-government militia man died an hour ago after being targeted along with other members by al-Qaeda suicide bomber earlier today in the southern province of Abyan.

The suicide bomber targeted a group of pro-government militia in the morning but mist the militia leader in the district of Lawdar, Abyan province in south Yemen, a local source said.

Saleh al-Agdal, a local from Lawdar district, said that al-Masoodi died in a hospital in Aden city, south Yemen. He said another member is unlikely to survive whlile the third one is stable.

The suicide bomber was waiting for the pro-government leader, Muhammed Aidarous, but he was already in office when the bomber resorted to targeting a car carrying members of the militia, said al-Agdal.

Al-Agdal said three of the targeted people were taken to Aden as they were seriously injured. The other four, the source said, are now in the local hospital in Lawdar. “So far,” al-Agdal said, “no one has died and Aidarous is fine.”

Aidarous has escaped three assassination attempts before. The pro-government militias, known as the Popular Committees, have joined the government army in its fight against al-Qaeda militants in the restive province in Abyan.

The militants attacked earlier in the month the leader of the militia in Ja’ar district but he escaped the assassination and suffered severe injury.

   

Yemen al-Qaeda: second man alive, US asks Yemen delay DNA test

By Mohammed al-Kibsi & Shoaib al-Musawa

Saeed al-Shihri, the Yemen al-Qaeda’s second-in-command government announced killed recently, is still alive, sources close to the group said.

Yemen defense ministry announced on September 10 it killed Saeed al-Shihri, deputy leader of Yemen based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in a “qualitative operation” believed to have been conducted by a U.S. drone attack.

Local sources from Abyan said al-Shihri is still alive. “The man is present,” said an Abyan local source who is familiar with the groups’ activities. “I contacted several people [close to al-Shihri] and confirmed he wasn’t basically at the attack scene.”

Another Abyan source, known to be an al-Qaeda affiliate, said al-Shihri is still alive. “I am one hundred percent sure he [al-Shihri] is alive. So close sources from al-Shihri have also affirmed he is still alive,” said the al-Qaeda affiliate source. Both two sources spoke on anonymity conditions citing personal concerns.

The al-Qaeda affiliate source, reached by mobile from al-Mahfad area which is now under al-Qaeda control, said “many” of al-Qaeda leaders announced dead by government are still alive, too. “Sometimes, they [al-Qaeda leadership] avoid affirming or denying that their members are dead for fear of [government] pursuit,” he said.

Yemeni government has not commented since media has reported conflicting accounts on al-Shihri being alive.

London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, quoting a “senior government official”, reported on September 14 that symbols of corpses were taken from a Hadramout hospital for a DNA test which, according to the paper, proved al-Shihri was not among those killed by the drone attack. Saudi interior minister told the paper on September 16 that he is not sure yet that al-Shihri was among those killed.

However, Yemeni officials from the criminal investigation said that no DNA test has been taken yet to any of the corpses.

 “We received four corpses, one of which is believed to be al-Shihri’s,” said a security officer at the criminal investigation department based on Sana'a. “Department of Criminal Evidence Investigation [in Sana’a] fetched them to Sana’a the second day of the attack for the DNA test but the American asked [Yemeni government] not to conduct any test,” said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous for not being authorized to speak to the press.

The officer said an American German team is arriving Yemen to conduct a DNA test of what believed to be the corpse of al-Qaeda second man along with three affiliate members killed by a U.S. drone attack in east province of Hadramout. The officer said he doesn’t know the specific day the team would arrive.

 The officer said he had been to the criminal evidence department, where the corpse are, and saw four corpses but that no DNA test has been conducted yet either in Sana’a nor in Hadramout. “All were totally burned that no one can identify them [corpses].

Yemen has announced killing of Shihri three times before but the group has denied the news.

Al-Shihri is a Saudi national who was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 and was sent to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation.

Situations calm down in north of Yemen after 16 fighters killed

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

After fierce clashes between Houthi rebels and militants of Islah party in Rayda town, Houthis rebels withdraw their militants from Rayda and handed over 36 prisoners of war that they captured during the past two days.

Over 16 fighters were killed in Rayda town in the north of Yemen in ongoing clashes between Shiite tribesmen known as al-Houthis  and ultra-conservative Sunnis affiliated to Islah Islamist party, security officials  and local sources said on Monday.

Tensions have long existed between Salafi Islamists, who are Sunni Muslims, and al-Houthi rebels, who are Shiite Muslims.

Local sources said that tribal midiators from Ayal Suraih tribe lead by Sheikh Sinan al-Ghouli succeeded in reaching to a truce between the two rivals and that both sides agreed to withdraw their militants from Rayda immediately.



Nearly 200 people died in fighting late last year between the two sides in northern Sa’ada province.



The latest clashes in Amran province revealed a new alliance between Hawthis and loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom the group fought in a costly six-year war until a cease-fire was reached in early 2010.



Over 200 Yemeni Jews live in Rayda town; however no casualties were reported among the minority Jewish community during the latest clashes.

The clashes happened after some affiliates of Islah party intrupted a demonstration organized by Houthis who were protesting the Innocence of Muslims movie that defamed Islam and Prophet Mohammed.

The Houthis also protested the appointment of the new governor of Amran, Mohammed Damaj and the new security chief of Amran, alleging that Damaj was not from Amran province and that the new chief police was the cause of war in Sa’da and war in Bani Hushish.

Residents trapped in street fighting in the city of Rayda in Amran say the Salafis from the opposition Islah Party were fighting Houthis, the two sides firing at each other with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

Houthis accused the commander of the 110 brigade General al-Gushaibi of supporting Salafis with armor vehicles and rockets.



The clashes happened a week after Yemen's government installed new governors from the Islah Party in Amran, about 45 miles north west of the capital Sana’a, and two other provinces around Sa’ada where Houthis are concentrated.

Aid agencies call 'Friends of Yemen' to rescue Yemenis from hunger

The  hunger  crisis  in  Yemen,  which  affects almost one out of every two Yemeni  citizens,  and  is  putting  nearly one million children at risk of severe  malnutrition,  must  be  addressed  immediately  to put the fragile country  on the path to a better future, eight international and Yemeni aid agencies  said  today.

 The call for more targeted emergency funding came as foreign ministers from the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and other countries are set to meet with the Yemeni government at the Friends of Yemen donor conference in New York.

The  aid agencies – Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Islamic Relief, CARE International, Merlin,  International  Medical  Corps,  Yemen Relief and Development Forum (YRDF)  and  the Humanitarian Forum – said that despite generous pledges of $6.4bn  made at a conference in Riyadh, the humanitarian response was still dangerously under-funded with the majority of pledged funds being allocated to  infrastructure  and macro-economic stability. This year’s UN appeal for $585  million  for  Yemen’s emergency needs is still less than half-funded.

This  shortfall  could be closed with a fraction – just over 4 percent – of the  funds  promised  in  Riyadh.   There  is no reason for an under-funded humanitarian response, say the agencies.

Recent  surveys have uncovered high malnutrition rates in Lahj in the south and Hajjah in the north, and agencies are now responding to needs in Abyan, which  until  recently  was  a  no-go  area wracked by fighting between the Yemeni government  and insurgents.

The  aid  agencies said that although longer-term  funding  was  essential,  it  would  not  help  Yemen  achieve development  and  stability unless matched with immediate funding to tackle the worsening humanitarian crisis. Colette Fearon, Country Director of Oxfam in Yemen, said:

“With  each passing day, the crisis gets tougher. Children’s futures are at risk  with  some  of  the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world. Women  tell  Oxfam  that  their  lives  have  got  worse  since last year's political  upheaval. They can’t afford food or find work. Parents are pulling  children  out of school to beg, marrying their daughters early and selling  what  little they have just to get food today. They know this will make  life  harder  in  the  future, but have little choice.  People cannot survive  on  promises,  however  generous.  It would take a fraction of the money already promised to fully fund the UN appeal.”

The  aid agencies urged donors not to repeat the mistakes of the past where funds were pledged to Yemen, but did not materialize. In 2006, five billion dollars  was  promised to Yemen, but in early 2010 less than 10 percent had been   disbursed.  They  called  on  the  Friends  of  Yemen  to  ensure  a comprehensive  strategy  and accountable and transparent plan detailing how the  money  would be spent and by when, with clear indicators that national and  international  civil  society could monitor. They said this would help ensure  that  humanitarian  funding  was  quickly followed by investment to tackle the root causes of Yemen’s hunger crisis.

Mohammed Qazilbash, Mercy Corps Yemen Country Director said “The humanitarian crisis is staggering and Yemen needs immediate assistance to help the millions of Yemenis who are hungry right now.  As world leaders gather  to  discuss  Yemen’s future, we urge them not only to meet pressing needs on the ground, but to ensure that there is a plan in place to address the  root causes of the crisis. Unemployment and high food prices mean that people  cannot  afford  food  today.  By  investing  in the private sector, supporting  market development, job training and youth employment programs, donors can give Yemenis a better future and break the cycle of hunger.”

The UN is expected to request another £92 million to address needs in Abyan in  the  coming  months.  The agencies said this could be covered with just over one percent of the 6.4bn pledged.

“Malnutrition  rates  in Hodeidah have exceeded the emergency threshold by 100  percent,  so  Islamic  Relief  is  launching  a  health, nutrition and livelihood  program  there, it’s aim is to save life” said Islamic Relief Country  Director Hashem Awnallah, adding that the agency is also targeting Abyan  and  Lahj, but “more resources are needed to keep current operations

in place and reach out further.” The call of the  international  aid  agencies is echoed by Yemeni civil society.  In  a  recent  civil society conference in Riyadh, over 100 civil society  representatives  from  across  Yemen  agreed that the humanitarian crisis  should  be  a key priority for funding. The Yemeni diasporas is also campaigning  for recognition of the hunger crisis through its Hungry4Change campaign.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen hails attack on US consulate in Libya, urges Muslims worldwide to attack American interests

 By: Mohammed al-Kibsi
Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen AQAP praised the attack against US embassy in Libya as well as attacks against US embassies in Egypt and Yemen and urged Muslims worldwide to attack Americans interests.
The AQAP's comment did come in the form of claim of responsibility for the Benghazi attack. It was in the form of a justification for the attack.
According to SITE, an intelligence group in the US which, inter alia, monitors the web statements of Al Qaeda, the AQAP said, "The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mukhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet. The uprising of our people in Libya, Egypt and Yemen against America and its embassies is a sign to notify the United States that its war is not directed against groups and organizations... but against the Islamic nation that has rebelled against injustice."

AQAP called for more violent demonstrations against US embassies in the Middle East and Africa, and urged Muslims in the West to attack American interests in their countries of residence.


Analysts wondered that al Qaeda's first comment on the commando-style attack on the United states consulate in Benghazi in Libya has not come from its command and control in North Waziristan in Pakistan headed by its Amir Ayman al-Zawahiri, but from its Yemen branch called  al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Of course, Zawahiri had issued a video message on September 10, 2012, one day before the Benghazi attack, confirming the death of his No.2 Abu Yahya al-Libi, a Libyan cleric, in a US drone strike in the Waziristan area on June 4,2012. The message called President Barack Obama a liar, who was trying to mislead the Muslims.

The presumption among many analysts was that the Benghazi attack was to avenge the death of al-Libi and that it had been planned before the Islamic world came to know of the film Innocence of Islam which has sparked off violent anti-US protests in many countries.

Analysts expected that the first comment of al-Qaeda on the Benghazi attack would come from Zawahiri or from Al Qaeda headquarters in North Waziristan. It has not. It has come from Yemen, indicating a possible co-ordination of the anti-US protests by AQAP.
"May the expulsion of embassies and consulates lead to the liberation of Arab lands from the American hegemony and the arrogance," said the statement.

Meanwhile, more  than 400 insurgents from al-Qaeda in al-Mahfad district in south Yemen, the current stronghold in a mountainous area between Abyan and Shabwah provinces, are  preparing  to control the  town of Baihan, local  official said on Sunday.

The director of Al Mahfad district, Yaslem Al Anboori, said in a press interview that al-Qaeda in al-Mahfaf had sent a number of suicide bombers to Aden and Sana’a to target Yemeni and western officials and installations.
A total of 200 armored vehicles of the American marines arrived to the Yemeni capital Sanaa according to the weekly independent newspaper Al Ola.
And  250 soldiers of the marines had arrived on Friday and Saturday.

The American government said it had sent forces to protect its embassy in Sanaa.

Earlier, the  Yemeni Parliament called the American forces to leave the country immediately, after about 150 from the American Marines forces arrived to Sanaa after angry demonstrators  stormed and destroyed the US embassy in protest over American-Israeli film deemed abusive to Islam and its prophet Mohamed.

"We do not accept any foreign forces in Yemen, be it small or big forces, and for any reason," said a statement by the Parliament on Saturday. The Parliament asked the government to protect all foreign missions in Yemen. The statement condemned the anti-Islam film ( the Innocence of Muslims) and called  for putting the film  makers on trial.






On September 15,2012, the Tehrik-e-Taliban [ Images ] Pakistan as the Pakistani Taliban is known called upon Muslim youth in Pakistan and other countries to protest against the movie. While one violent incident attributed to the Afghan Taliban has been reported from Southern Afghanistan, reportedly resulting in the death of two US Marines, there have so far been no violent incidents in Pakistan, but anti-US demonstrations have been held in different cities of Pakistan.

The wave of protests till now has been against the film itself and the US for allowing it to be produced and clips to be disseminated from the US, but clerics in different countries, while calling for the protests to be peaceful, have been demanding a UN ban on any insult to sacred symbols of Islam and other religions.

Innocent Muslims movie worsens relations between Yemen and USA, Yemen parliament demands US Marines leave Yemen

 By Mohammed al-Kibsi

The controversial Innocent Muslims movie lead into anger all over the Islamic countries including Yemen. Thousands of Yemenis stormed the US embassy on September 13 and 14.

Over 4 civilians were killed on the streets near the US embassy in Sana’a after some or protesters broke into the Embassy and looted what they found available. This move incited the US administration to dispatch some more US marines to protect the embassy.

However it seems that the controversial Innocent Muslims movie produced in USA is going to hurt relations between Yemen and USA.

 The Yemeni Parliament called the American forces to leave the country immediately, after about 150 from the American Marines forces arrived to Sana’a after angry demonstrators  stormed and looted the US embassy in protest over American-Israeli film deemed abusive to Islam and prophet Mohamed.

"We do not accept any foreign forces in Yemen, be it small or big forces, and for any reason," said a statement by the Parliament on Saturday. The Parliament asked the government to protect all foreign missions in Yemen. The statement condemned the anti-Islam film ( the Innocence of Muslims) and called  for putting the film  makers on trial.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called Muslims to kill more American diplomats saying that the film was only a new chapter of a Crusade war on Islam. " Follow the example of  the Libyans, grandsons of Omar Al Mukhtar," said the statement in a clear reference to the killing of American ambassador in Libya last week.

Four people were killed and 48 other injured including 10 soldiers last Thursday when angry protester stormed the US embassy in Sana’a. 61 cars were completely damaged, and 13 were burnt and one was stolen.

One of those killed was buried on Saturday in Sana’a and his father said during the funeral that the America Marines killed his son. This would create additional anti-American sentiment.