Yemen Times

by Mohammad Bin Sallam

State security has arrested at least 14 alleged Al-Qaeda militants, said the Ministry of Interior on its website on Sunday.

Those arrested are believed to include Salah Al-Dabani, a top Al-Qaeda operative in Yemen. He was arrested as he threw grenades in front of the Central Security headquarters in Lawdar.

The ministry said in a statement on its website that the 14 suspects were arrested in a security sweep after "the terrorists were wholly defeated" by the security forces last month in Lawdar. Lawdar is 550 km away from Sana’a. Its population is estimated at 100,000 people. It is believed to be a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), especially since the civil war in 1994.

It is believed that gunmen from Al-Qaeda and other Islamic movements who came from Afghanistan and called themselves jihadists are positioned in the mountains.

According to the statement, the security sweep against Al-Qaeda suspects will continue around the clock. The ministry expected that they will soon surrender themselves to the security forces.

Despite the recent arrests, fighting continued last week in the southern governorates of Lahj and Abyan.

At least 14 people were killed in intensive fighting which broke out on Saturday between security forces and gunmen believed to belong to the Southern Movement in Al-Habeelain, Lahj.

The Ministry of Defense said on its website that one soldier was killed and four were injured in two different attacks by unknown gun men in Abyan.

According to the website, two gunmen were on a motorcycle when they fired randomly at soldiers who were distributing food to people at 6 pm.

Four soldiers from Central Security were killed earlier on Wednesday in Zunjubar, Abyan.

According to the locals, an armed group snuck into the governmental complex at Abyan and shot at soldiers while they were eating iftar. Four of the soldiers were killed.

In Radfan district, Lahj governorate, dozens of people were killed as the security forces and the army exchanged fire with anonymous gunmen.

According to sources, the exchange of gunfire was the result of a dispute over the check points made during the last few days.

Recently, Radfan district in Lahj has been witnessing intensive security sweeps in which many check points have been set along the main road and near the entrance to the district.

In the same context, some  Southern Movement members were arrested.

According to the local sources, the security forces arrested men who were behind the attack against the Political Security headquarters in Al-Hota, Lahj last Friday.

'Two faces of the same coin'
The Southern Movement and the Al-Qaeda wing in Yemen are believed to be two faces of the same coin, according to a source in the security forces.

The source added that the ruling party’s website said that coordination between the separatists and Al-Qaeda is clear especially in the attacks which happened in Lawdar last month.

Some members of the Southern Movement helped Al-Qaeda terrorists last month but were later arrested after they were wholly defeated by the security forces, according to the source.

He added that both Al-Qaeda terrorists and the Southern Movement members “work only for their own interests and they are apparently against Yemen.”

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