Aden // Thousands of Yemenis protested on Friday to demand an end to the siege Taez city by Houthi rebels, and for Al Qaeda militants to withdraw from Abyan province.
After Friday afternoon prayers in Taez, thousands of residents marched in the streets to call for an end to the siege by the Houthis and their allies who have indiscriminately shelled the city and prevented the delivery of food and other humanitarian aid, according to Taez-based journalist Fareed al Homaid.
“The protesters gathered in Jamal Street, demanding the implementation of the UN resolution 2216,” Al Homaid said, referring to the Security Council resolution that requires the Houthis and their allies withdraw from cities they have seized and hand over heavy weapons.
In Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, hundreds of residents marched after prayers to demand Al Qaeda militants leave the city, said Sadeq Al Faqeeh, a journalist based in the city.
Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition have been fighting to retake the city from the militants but pulled back after sustaining casualties in a suicide car bombing last Saturday.
“The residents fear a repeat of the scenario of 2011, when the army cleared Al Qaeda from the city but also many civilians were killed during the fighting,” Al Faqeeh said.
With peace talks under way in Kuwait between the government and rebels, and an accompanying ceasefire, the Saudi-led coalition and loyalist forces have turned their sights on extremists who have taken advantage of Yemen’s war to seize territory and stage attacks.
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead the director of Aden’s traffic police on Friday afternoon, a day after a suicide car bombing at the home of the city’s police chief, who escaped unharmed.
Mirwan Abdu Ali ws attacked while he was with his daughter in Aden's Al Mimdara neighborhood, a Yemeni security source told The National.
“Ali was killed immediately but his daughter is safe. We are still chasing the sleeper cells in Aden, which are trying to create chaos in the province,” the source said.
While no group has yet claimed responsibility for either attack, they appear to be part of a stepped-up effort by Al Qaeda cells still operating in Aden to target Yemeni security officials as an offensive against extremist militants continues across the country’s southern provinces.
Southern Yemeni tribal fighters trained and led by UAE special forces and backed by coalition air strikes recaptured Al Qaeda’s south-eastern base, the key port city of Mukalla, in Hadramawt province this week.
The commander of UAE forces in Hadramawt has said the coalition and Yemeni forces are pressing their offensive against the exremists in the city and elsewhere in southern Yemen.
“Operations are continuing to clear Mukalla of Al Qaeda members who have stayed behind,” Staff Brigadier General Mussalam Al Rashidi said at a press conference in Mukalla on Thursday night. His forces are pursuing Al Qaeda militants who fled towards Shabwa province and elsewhere in Hadramout, he added.
“The liberation of Mukalla has proved how Al Qaeda was fragile,” Brig Al Rashidi said, adding: “The Mukalla operation is a clear message to the supporters of terrorism in Yemen.”
The UAE reportedly sought US assistance and coordination with the anti-Al Qaeda operations, and the US may be playing a role through drone strikes. Four alleged militants were killed in a drone strike in Shabwa’s Markha region, an official said.
While Aden’s Mansoura district, which had been held by Al Qaeda militants, was cleared by Yemeni and coalition forces in March, ahead of the current offensive, the string of attacks in the city show that they remain operationally capable there even if their presence has been significantly reduced.
“Al Qaeda considers the south as a stronghold and they already were able to take over areas inside Aden city, so definitely they have supporters inside the city and the security forces will need time to clear Al Qaeda from Aden,” said political analyst and the head of Madar Strategic Studies Centre in Aden, Fadhl Al Rabei.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
