Lead by al-Beidh Southern National Resistance declares war against army forces

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

Few days before the conclusion of the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), the former vice president of Yemen Ali Salem al-Beidh declared war against the military and security forces, launched from Dale and Lahj provinces in the south of Yemen on Sunday.

In a statement screened on the Beirut based, Aden Live TV channel, affiliated to al-Beidh, the TV channel published what it called the statement number one that it attributed to the Southern National Resistance through which it sponsored launching attacks against the military and security forces in Dale and Lahj provinces on Saturday.

This was the first time the Southern Movement admits launching attacks against the army and calling it as "the army of the enemies".  The southern movement has been always affirming it’s a peaceful movement.

In its statement it said that the Southern National Resistance militias launched massive attacks against the military sites of the 33^rd armor brigade in al-Jarba and Abboud military camps in Dale province. "The attacks resulted in capturing two military sites and capturing one of the soldiers," the statement said.

It also said that the southern resistance's fighters launched an attack against a military patrol in Lahj province, killing four soldiers, destroying a military vehicle and capturing a number of arms.

A security source affirmed that militants affiliated to the Southern Movement launched an RBG assailant on a military vehicle while it was in its way to the 7^th of July military brigade at al-Malah area of Radfan district in Lahj province on Saturday.

The source said that two soldiers were killed immediately and that two others died later sustaining injuries from the attack.

The statement also warned the military forces from attacking any southerners, promising to continue launching assailants against the army until liberating the south of Yemen and restoring the "South Arabian State", former southern Yemen.

The statement said the attacks were in response to killing leader Burkan Manee'  Saleh  and a number of civilians who were killed in attacks launched by the 33^rd armor brigade located in Dale province on Friday.  

Confrontations between the southern movement and the 33^rd armor brigade, located in Dale province, have been continuing for the past two weeks resulting in killing over 30 of the southern movement fighters and civilians including women and children.

Over 20 people were killed when a tank affiliated to the 33^rd armor brigade bombarded a school in Sanah area of Dale last December. The southern movement stated that the tank targeted a mourning ceremony that had been launching in the school. However the commander of the 33^rd brigade General Abdullah Dhaba'an alleged the tank fired back at militants that were launching attacks from the school at a military vehicle. President Hadi dispatched a military committee to investigate the incident; however the committee has not announced its findings.

Last Friday confrontations broke out between the two sides and over nine people were killed including three women.

A number of political parties and civil society organizations condemned the attacks launched by the 33^rd armor brigade against civilians and called for ousting General Dhaba'an who was also accused of burning protest site in Taiz city during the uprising against Ex president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 before the general and his armor brigade were moved from Taiz to Dale as part of a wide restructure process of the Yemeni army.

A sit in was launched at the National Dialogue Conference before starting activities of the conference on Saturday. The sit in was organized by the representatives of the southern movement to the NDC but all NDC members took part in it. They called for moving the 33^rd armor brigade from Dale, ousting General Dhaba'an and referring him to the judiciary for the crimes he committed in Dale. Representatives of the southern movement to the NDC called for trying general Dhab'an and threatened to withdraw from the conference if not firm measures would be adopted regarding what has been happening in Dale.

"If the authority could not remove Dhaba'an during the past three weeks what would it do to implement the NDC's outcomes", they vowed.

Member of the NDC Abdulhamid Huraiz considered the silence of the government and president Hadi about what has been happening in Dale as approval for what has been happening there.

"The Southern Resistance affirms that operations of the southern resistance will continue until removing the Yemeni occupation off the Southern Arabian, militarily, politically and economically and liberating the last inch of the Southern Arabian national soil and restoring the independence of the Southern Arabian State," the statement read.

"I'm talking on behalf of the southern movement and I'm with the demands of trying Dab'aan the killer and removing the brigade centered in Dale and we request from president Hadi to interfere for this issue and to withdraw this brigade to another place and to form a new brigade comprising from the sons of that region," said  Dr, Yasin Makawi , vice president of the NDC.

This escalation coincided with the conclusion of the National Dialogue Conference a matter that indicated attempts to sabotage the political dialogue process.

The UNSC council had warned former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and former Vice president Ali Salem al-Beidh from disturbing the political settlement.

The Yemeni government accuses al-Beidh of receiving financial support from Iran to disturb the security, stability and unity of Yemen, an accusation that al-Beidh has not denied.

An Iranian diplomat was assassinated on a main road down town in Sana'a on Saturday.

The Yemeni government had detained a number of ships carrying weapons from Iran to Yemen the last of them was Jihan 1 that was captured in the Yemeni maritime territorial in 2012. Investigations uncovered that most of the weapons were of Iranian origin.