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Thursday, August 26, 2010     FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

Al Qaida-backed separatists in southern Yemen gaining strength, capture town

CAIRO — Yemen has been facing a powerful rebel movement in the south.

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Officials said southern separatists have been aided by Al Qaida in the revolt against the regime of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They said the rebel force has been growing in strength and managed to capture at least one town from the central government in Sanaa.

"The rebels have become organized and are starting to receive heavy weapons," an official said.


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Officials said the southern insurgency has become a key issue in security cooperation between Yemen and the United States. They said the intelligence communities of both countries agreed that the so-called Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula expanded rapidly in 2010 and was becoming a leading insurgency threat in the Gulf and Horn of Africa.

In August, the southern separatists, with aid from Al Qaida, captured the city of Lawdar, located 250 kilometers southeast of Sanaa. The separatists were said to have held Lawder, population 80,000, for nearly a week despite heavy attacks by Yemen's military and security forces. On Aug. 20, at least 11 Yemeni soldiers were killed in the city, Middle East Newsline reported.

On Aug. 25, the Sanaa regime reported that Lawder was again under government control. Deputy Interior Minister Saleh Al Zuari said a government force encountered heavy resistance, mostly by Al Qaida.

Al Zuari reported the killing of 12 Al Qaida fighters. He said the rest of the rebel force — many of them from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — fled Lawder, located in the southern province of Abyan.

"The security authorities have done their job efficiently and professionally," Al Zuari said. "Security forces have taught the terrorists of Al Qaida a hard lesson and inflicted painful hits on them, forcing those terrorist elements that tried to hide, to flee after dozens were killed and wounded."

Fighting was also reported in the Abyan capital of Zinjibar. On Aug. 25, at least four soldiers were killed in an Al Qaida ambush, which officials said was conducted by gunmen on motorcycles.

Since Aug. 20, at least 40 people were said to have been killed, about half of them Al Qaida fighters in Lawder. The Interior Ministry said 1,000 families in the city were displaced during the battle.

"Four Al Qaida members were killed while the rest fled after evacuating their injured," the Interior Ministry said on Aug. 24. "The chiefs of the terrorist elements have started to flee."

The separatists, called the Southern Movement, were said to have deployed heavy weapons, including rockets anti-tank missiles. The Defense Ministry said one of the casualties in the fighting was Adel Hardaba, identified as the deputy AQAP commander in Lawder.

The separatists have acknowledged the heavy fighting in southern Yemen. They said Yemen's military was targeting civilians in heavy bombing raids and denied Al Qaida participation.

"They are trying to gather international aid from countries that fight terror," exiled southern Yemeni leader Ali Al Baid said. "We reiterate our disapproval of Al Qaida."



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