Al Mukalla: Two years after bringing peace and stability to former Al Qaida urban strongholds in south-eastern province of Hadramout, Yemeni forces moved to expel the militants from rugged and remote valleys and mountains in the province.
Last week, the governor of Hadramout, Major General Faraj Salmeen Al Bahsani, announced the start of an offensive against Al Qaida hideouts in Al Mousaini valley, west of the city of Al Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout. Dozens of armoured vehicles carrying hundreds of soldiers, backed by UAE military advisers and logistics, marched towards the valley from three directions and rolled into the valley for the first time in many years.
The rugged valley, which has long caves extending into the neighbouring Shabwa province, has served as Al Qaida’s safe haven. Since losing its urban strongholds, the organisation has been regrouping there, and storing it arms there too. It has also used the area to stage attacks. On Sunday, General Al Bahsani told Gulf News his forces seized control of the valley after killing and capturing dozens of militants. “We are now working on combing caves for Al Qaida militants who may be hiding there.”
The general said key Al Qaida leaders who fled Al Mukalla in 2016 were hiding in the valley, with heavy arms the militants looted from military bases in their former strongholds. Al Qaida held the city of Al Mukalla and its neighbouring towns for a year before UAE-backed Yemeni troops ousted them in April 2016. “We will establish a permanent presence in the valley in order not to allow Al Qaida to return,” Al Bahsani said, adding that Al Qaida moved to the rugged areas after suffering heavy loses in Shabwa province. After Al Mousaini, the Yemeni troops, known as Hadhrami Elite Forces, will chase the militants in remote areas on Hadramout’s large plateau, kicking off a new phase of the war against Al Qaida, which includes purging the militants from every inch of land in the province. “We will not allow them to gain a foothold in the province.” Al Bahsani said.
Local military commanders say the Hadhrami Elite Forces were trained and set up by the UAE Armed Forces in military camps in Hadramout’s desert during the early days of the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen in 2015.
Backed by UAE air support, the forces liberated Al Mukalla, Sheher and Ghayl Bawazer from Al Qaida in 2016, and managed to put an end to years of anarchy in those cities. The state-run Saba news service said on Sunday that Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi received a call from Al Bahsani to brief him on the fresh victories against Al Qaida in Hadramout.
Terrorism experts and military analysts say Al Qaida has suffered fatal blows since the beginning of the current military operations by the UAE trained and armed Yemeni forces 2016. “This is a real war against Al Qaida,” Saeed Al Jumahi told Sky News Arabia. “For 15 years, we have never seen decisive and serious strikes against [the group] as we see today,” he added.
In 2016, the UAE backed Yemeni forces expelled Al Qaida militants from parts of Aden and major cities in Lahj and Hadramout. In 2017, the militants were pushed from major cities in Shabwa and Abyan provinces.
Speaking about the impact of these strikes, Al Jumahi said the militants had largely failed to recapture former strongholds or stage deadly attacks inside the liberated areas in southern Yemen. “Al Qaida cannot expand or regain control of cities. Their statements and speeches urging people to support them have stopped. These air strikes have caused real harm to Al Qaida,” he said. “The UAE’s role in the current operation is visible. There is a strong determination to decimate Al Qaida,” Al Jumahi said.
