Sana'a: Civilians who took up arms in southern Yemen have succeeded in thwarting Al Qaida's bid to occupy more cities in the south, a local fighter from the town of Lowder told Gulf News.

Early this month, Al Qaida militants launched an offensive on Lowder, a small town in the volatile province of Abyan. The militants faced unprecedented resistance not only from the troops but from the local people.

"We took up arms to defend our families, property and the town against Al Qaida," said a man who prefers to be known as Al Dalie.

"We have learnt lessons from places that were controlled by Al Qaida. People were driven out of their homes and cities were destroyed. We are fighting because we don't want to end up in that miserable situation."

Al Dalie said the people in Lowder decided to fight Al Qaida when they killed a local figure who was campaigning against the extremists.

"The honeymoon ended when we announced that Al Qaida should immediately leave the town. We expelled them and arrested those who refused to go. In retaliation, Al Qaida assassinated our leader and claimed responsibility for his death."

In a couple of weeks, those fighters managed to drum up support and thwarted an attack.

"Our fighters are from a mixture [of] Herak [members of the pro-autonomy Southern Movement], Salafists and members of the Islamist Islah party. We are unified under one goal which is defending our town from Al Qaida."

According to Al Dalie, they received some weapons from the army and enlisted the help of retired security officers.

Militants repelled

"We managed to repel Al Qaida's first attack [using] our light weapons. We knew that if our town fell into the hands of Al Qaida, the first thing they [would] do [was to] settle scores with the inhabitants who fought them. Our town is quiet now and I'm talking to you from my home. Some of the former security officers [are] helping us with their expertise."

Since the beginning of fighting 15 days ago, at least 45 people have been killed and 183 others injured.

"To support the victims, we gave each family 50,000 riyals (Dh848) and foodstuffs for a month. We advise people in the other cities to get rid of Ansar Al Sharia. People must come together and bury their differences and unify to confront Al Qaida."

Automatic reaction

Dr Nasser Al Khanbigi, a senior figure in the southern movement, said that the local people's involvement in the war against Al Qaida was an automatic reaction to a growing threat.

Al Khanbigi said some parties are capitalising on the Al Qaida threat to achieve their own goals.

Nasser, however, added that security officers loyal to the movement were helping the fighters in Lowder.

"I think fighting will encourage people in the Al Qaida-held area to form security committees to liberate their cities from Al Qaida."

People in the neighbouring areas of Abyan province have set checkpoints and deployed armed watchmen. Local people in Radafan and Yafaie districts told Gulf News that they are on a heightened alert.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to pressure the government into releasing detained militants, Al Qaida has threatened to behead dozens of soldiers on Monday if the government fails to cede to its demands.

The soldiers were captured early last month when Al Qaida militants launched an assault on an army camp in Abyan province. At least 200 soldiers were also killed in the same attack. This week, Al Qaida announced in Ja'ar town that it would kill ten soldiers each week if the government does not release jailed militants.