January 20, 2012

Hundreds of "militants" waltzed into Raada, a town a few hundred miles from Yemen's capital, and took over several government buildings, emptied the jail and assumed positions at the base of the elite Republican Guard, headed by President Saleh's son, Ahmed, the point man for the US on counter-terror operations.

The Yemeni opposition, local Sheikhs and residents charge that Prince Ahmed gave up the town without a fight in order to create chaos and delay the presidential election scheduled for Feb 21. The Republican Guard is also responsible for much of the violence toward the protesters, ie- an al Qaeda facilitating murderer is the US's main contact on CT efforts.

The upcoming presidential election is an uncontested. Saleh's VP has been endorsed by the opposition and will have a two year term. The Yemeni public has refused the US endorsed, UN brokered transition plan which affords immunity to Saleh for all his crimes over the last 33 years as well as many of his aids.

Protests across Yemen continue daily against the plan which is the diametric opposite of what the protesters were trying to achieve, an entire regime change and a transitional council to guide the shift to a parliamentary system. Instead the US plan puts the fractured regime back together in a unity government.

Many in Yemen are also concerned that the US/Saudi approved transition plan elevated the Islamic Reform party, Islah, into power ministries and other leadership positions that they would not have attained otherwise.

CNN:This comes as thousands of anti-Saleh protesters marched in the streets of Radda on Wednesday, condemning what they say was an act of treachery by relatives of Saleh.

"Saleh's nephew and son handed over the town to the militants. They wanted al Qaeda to take over the town to raise the tension in the country," said Sameer Ashtal, a youth protester in Radda.

He added, "Saleh is willing to destroy to the entire country for the sake of himself, and that is why he has to leave power."

Marchers in Radda chanted, "Saleh's family sold Radda. He will stand trial for this crime."

Update: fighting erupted today between al Qaeda and the local tribesmen, who had given the terrorists a two day deadline to leave the town.

January 16, 2012

How do you solve a problem like Yemen?

Al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate has taken control of a city just 100 miles south of the capital, after militants led by the brother-in-law of the late U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki stormed the police station and the prison in Rada'a Saturday.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula now controls seven population centers in Southern Yemen, according to officials. It has so far rebuffed attempts by the Yemeni military to retake ithe provincial capital of Zinjibar, which militants overran in May.

January 09, 2012

Read it and weep. Its the most absurd policy imaginable (immunity for a mass murderer who continues to kill), thoroughly counter-productive and it undermines US moral authority on human rights issues, al Qaeda and basic decency. Obama's Yemen policy is really that bad. My article:

Obama's strategic blunder in Yemen may shield Al Qaeda from prosecution

A law passed by Yemen’s cabinet on Sunday provides blanket immunity to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and all those who served in his governments over the last 33 years. One unintended consequence may be to also immunize those al Qaeda operatives on the payroll of the Yemeni military and security services.

The law grants immunity to Saleh "and whoever worked with him in all the state's civil, military and security apparatus and organizations during the period of his rule." The US has pushed for the transition plan since May despite broad public rejection of the immunity clause.

Yemeni military commanders including those now in the opposition are thought be complicit in a range of terror attacks, in addition to a long standing pattern of facilitation of al Qaeda. Many al Qaeda operatives who draw a state salary would then be covered under the immunity deal.

As one example, former Interior Minister Hussain Arab issued an official travel permit to Abdel Rahman al Nashiri in 2000, covering the period of the USS Cole attack that killed 17 US service members. Not only would the law absolve Mr. Arab of any complicity in the al Qaeda attack, it may also absolve al Nashiri.

December 29, 2011

As pressure builds on the Obama administration to deny a diplomatic visa to ousted Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the family of a sailor killed in the al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole urged that Saleh be denied entry to the United States.

In a public plea, Gary and Deborah Swenchonis are calling on US officials to “do the right thing” in light of Saleh’s “ruthless behavior” toward both his own people and the sailors aboard the USS Cole when it was attacked.

“If Saleh was allowed to come here to America, it would be just another insult in a long line of insults to the murdered sailors, those wounded, and those sailors who fought so hard and so long to keep the Cole afloat, and to bring her back home. And not to mention all the other Americans who could never understand why our own government continued to befriend Saleh in light of how he helped the plotters of the Cole Attack in which 17 American sailors were murdered, and 39 more wounded.”

Their son Gary Swenchonis Jr. was a fireman aboard the USS Cole and among those US service members killed in October 2000 when al Qaeda operatives detonated a bomb alongside the warship as it was refueling in the Port of Aden.

The Swenchonis family notes that through several administrations, the US government has never held Saleh to account for his part in obstructing the USS Cole investigation, allowing the terrorists to repeatedly escape justice or in facilitating the attack itself.

Like other aggrieved parties including torture victims, the Swenchonis family vowed to use “every legal option at our disposal to make him stand trial in a civil court” should Saleh find refuge in the United States.

Read the rest of my article here.

December 24, 2011

Thousands of bare foot, bare chested Yemeni youth terrify the barbaric Sana'a regime and the international community with their bleeding feet.

The 170 mile Life March from Taiz arrived in Sanaa to be attacked by Central Security forces with live fire and tear gas.

The march is meant to underscore popular rejection of a bogus transition plan devised by the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) and endorsed by the US, EU and SA and mediated by the UN.

The GCC plan grants immunity to Saleh and his administration for decades of corruption and massacres against protesters that left thousands dead and wounded since February. The unity government is the regime re-branded with the inclusion of some "opposition" party leaders.

Nine wounded marchers were transported to the field hospital in Sana'a Change Square. One fatality has been confirmed by medics but as many as nine more have been reported to be killed. Security forces are preventing ambulances from reaching other wounded marchers bleeding out on the streets, NYR

From my Examiner article today: The Obama administration's insistence in retaining elements of the Saleh administration and security forces has thwarted the regime change demanded by millions and allowed al Qaeda to flourish in southern towns. Although US counter-terror efforts have had more latitude to operate since protests began, the Saleh regime and al Qaeda have long had a symbiotic relationship.

Also read at Global Voices: “These GCC states are not at all competent to deal with popular requests for liberty and freedom, not to mention democratic government, because they themselves are mostly despotic regimes,” observed Yemen’s Coordinating Council of the Youth Revolution of Change (CCYRC). “They themselves would never welcome such requests from their own people, let alone be ready to accommodate such demands by people in neighboring states.”

December 22, 2011

Thousands of Taizians have embarked on a 240 km (170 mile) march from Taiz to Yemen's capital Sana'a to underscore public rejection of a UN mediated transition plan. The plan devised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (and strong armed into existence by the Obama administration and Saudi Arabia) was overtly and repeatedly rejected by the vast majority in Yemen since its proposal in April.

So far Yemen has a) an appointed unity government including reshuffled, corrupt elites that excludes the pro-democracy youth, b) a presidential election scheduled in 60 days that has already been officially conceded by the opposition political parties, c) an honorary president, the long reigning corrupt tyrant Saleh, in addition to a temporary president and d) international guarantees of immunity for President Saleh and other government officials guilty of murdering and wounding thousands of Yemeni citizens since February (and before) as well as looting the government budget and resources for decades. The UN's endorsement of immunity for mass human rights violations is unprecedented.

The Life March, estimated to take five days, is growing in number as citizens are joining from every town and village along the way. The procession includes a kitchen and medical unit. Women in Dhamar baked 100,000 cookies in preparation for the marchers' arrival.

Vid update: marchers arrive in Dhamar, traditionally a Saleh stronghold. And other video of the marchers on the road to Dhamar:

Many more details on the overall configuration in my article at Examiner.com.

December 12, 2011

Wait, haven't I seen this movie before?

Fifteen suspected members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula escaped from a south Yemen prison Monday morning, security officials said.

The escapees dug a 6-meter tunnel in the western section of the Central Security prison in Aden, the security officials said.

The escapees encountered no government resistance, the security officials said.

ht:@intelwire

November 09, 2011

It's a death penalty case. I hope they fry him and then he fries some more in hell:

The suspected mastermind behind the bombing of the USS Cole - the 2000 attack that took the lives of 17 American sailors - stepped into public view Wednesday inside a military commission courtroom at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay Cuba.

Abd al-Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al-Nashiri did not enter a plea in his arraignment after the charges were read....

Al-Nashiri is charged with killing 17 American sailors in the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. The attack left dozens of others were injured and a gaping hole was blown into the side of the warship.

I really opposed trying terrorists in civilian courts in the past based on hypotheticals about giving them certain Constitutional rights and on the principle that certain acts of terrorism are military in nature. However, the last ten years has shown that our civilian courts are pretty adequate in trying terrorists. I'm not aware of a single instance in which a terrorist -- or even a potential terrorist -- wasn't convicted.

So, my hypothetical fears no longer seem to mesh with reality as it is. If anything, previous military commissions at Gitmo have set free many guilty parties who then returned to the battlefield only to commit more crimes.

I'm not exactly sure what the solution is, but I'm not sure we've found the solution in the present system. But I guess we'll see over the next few years as the trial drags on and on and on.

November 07, 2011

The Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (known as HOOD) launched an investigation into "disappeared" activists. HOOD, a credible organization, found that over 1000 protesters are jailed incommunicado and most likely enduring torture.

While many protesters were grabbed randomly, Yemeni bloggers, tweeters, facebookers and journalists are targeted in particular. Last Friday, millions* across Yemen marched, appealing for solidarity from people in the free world, but gained little western media coverage.

Its also likely some of the missing are dead. After nearly every protest, the state steals the wounded and corpses from hospitals and the streets to reduce the body count. At least three mass graves have been discovered since February.

One family came forward to report the Sanaa regime offered them $10,000 to accuse the opposition in their son's murder, after he was shot in the eye and killed by the security forces.

Yemen Post: HOOD human rights organization announced that more than 1000 youth activists are still illegally being held by the regime only because they chose to protest peacefully. Among the imprisoned are eight women the organization claims.

Youth leaders in Sana’a marched on Friday raising banners and calling the international community to help in release those imprisoned by government forces and save them from the torture they are going through.

Abdul Rahman Barman, the executive director of HOOD told Yemen Post, “the number of imprisoned youth is on the rise and the world must stand against the government for the sake of humanity.”

“These youth are being tortured and attacked fiercely. Some leave government custody with their minds lost from the torture,” added Barman.

Though the last week of protests in Yemen have been peaceful, security forces have killed more than 900 since January.

Earlier witness testimony published here at Jawa detailed brutal torture of prisoners, including children as young as 12, at the hands of Yemeni security forces.

Violence has increased since the UN Security Council passed resolution 2014 two weeks ago strongly urging Saleh to step down. Its par for the course.

During 1994's civil war, President Ali Abdullah Saleh ignored two security council resolutions calling for the immediate end to the random shelling of Aden City. Saleh's utter disregard for the resolutions and the forced imposition of unity on south Yemen in 1994 gives rise to southern Yemenis' claims that they are "occupied" by the northern Saleh regime.

*Yemen has about 25 million citizens. About half are under 15. The marches demanding regime change take place across the nation, not just the capital, and draw the majority of Yemenis to the streets, weekly. Hundreds of thousands of youth activists and others are living in protest squares since February, refusing to go home until Saleh and his regime are deposed.

November 04, 2011

And other oddities:

The latest news on Gitmo detainee Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, in US custody since 2002, is that the Military Commission can not confirmthat he will be released if found not guilty. Its not in the Military Commission's jurisdiction to make those kind of pledges. Considering Nashiri was water boarded, its questionable if any of his statements will be allowed at trial, but prosecutors are confident that there is enough other evidence for a conviction.

Al Nashiri is charged with aiding the al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in Aden port in 2000. The bombing killed 17 US service members and severely wounded dozens more. Al Nashiri selected the targets, the timing and coordinated the operatives. However, unexplored for a decade is the level of complicity by top Yemeni government officials and the failure of US intelligence to get a warning to the ship.

Prior to the attack on the USS Cole, Yemen's then Interior Minister Hussain Arab issued al Nashiri a travel pass that enabled him to pass Yemen's many internal checkpoints without search or question in the months preceding the terror attack. Al Nashiri also had a weapons permit issued by the Interior Ministry. These official documents were presented in Yemeni court during the 2005 trials of other conspirators.

In an interesting coincidence, Yemeni President Saleh ordered several top officials, including Interior Minister Arab, to travel from the capital Sana'a to Aden the night before the USS Cole was bombed there.

Saleh denied that Yemen was notified of the impending arrival of the warship. According to Centcom commander, General Zinni, in Congressional testimony, US naval officials followed the standard procedures for refueling including a two week advance notification to the host port.

It was also around two weeks prior to the attack that the military data mining group Able Danger and separately DOD analyst Kie Fallis picked up intel streams about an impending attack. Both made several attempts to obtain authorization to issue official warnings to no avail.

Kie Fallis quit the day of the Cole bombing. Able Danger's Anthony Shaffer's information never made it into the 9/11 report, although he tried. DOD later revoked Shaffer's health insurance and forced him out over a "stolen" pen that he reported taking as a souvenir as a teen.

The NSA had the "Yemen hub" (a phone line in Yemen used by al Qaeda operatives for calls to and from bin Laden and others) under heavy surveillance for over a year prior to the Cole bombing, and for about a year after. There was a satellite trained on the house in Sanaa 24/7. Oddly, the NSA never learned of or reported on the USS Cole plot.

The CIA withheld information from the FBI about an al Qaeda summit, a high level meeting in Malaysia in January 2000, at which both the Cole and 9/11 were discussed. (See former federal investigator Ali Soufan's excellent book, The Black Banners for more.)

Yemeni officials failed to cooperate with Soufan and other FBI agents in Yemen investigating the bombing. Some like the head of Yemen's Political Security Organization in Aden, Hussain al Ansi, engaged in active misdirection and stonewalling.

Ten terrorists awaiting trial for the Cole attack escaped Yemeni prison in 2002 and after surrendering, their trials resulted in sentences of five to ten years. Most escaped prison again in 2006. By 2008, all those convicted in the attack had their sentences commuted and were free. Al Nashiri, in US custody, was sentenced to death in Yemen in absentia in 2005.

The Jurist reports the Yemeni government sheltered (and lied for) al Nashiri after the bombing. The Congressional Research Service details the Cole bombers' releases and notes that, according to the Washington Post, Al Nashiri had spent several months before his capture under "high-level protection" by the Yemeni government.

After the USS Cole attack, Interior Minister Arab was transferred, appointed by Yemeni President Saleh to the Shura Council. Arab resigned and joined the Pro-Revolutionary Military Council in March 2011.

Previous: (2007) The USS Cole Bombing in Yemen: What We Know Today

I don't know how the protesters find the self discipline to remain peaceful when state snipers, thugs and artillery attack the protest squares around the country with such regularity, but their goal is a civil (non-theocratic, non-military) state. And there's millions, click below.

- Airstrikes on Arhab leave 120 civilians killed, 340 wounded

- Nationwide slaughter since UN SC council resolution 2014 called for Saleh to transfer power

- One million demand regime change

Yemen Post: Several Million of Yemeni gathered nationwide in the streets of Yemen yesterday, demanding the fall of the regime and Ali Abdullah Saleh's trial as they say the president is continuing to murder his people.

Protesters had spell out "butcher" across their chest in red ink in denunciation of president Saleh's many crimes. "He's using snipers to gun down women and children, Sana'a and Taiz are under shelling attacks everyday…Saleh is killing Yemeni and the World stands silent…We will not," said Mohamed Hassan Said a defected officer.

In Sana'a, the capital, a funeral march was organized to bury the bodies of the victims of the revolution amongst whom was 4 year-old little Waffa. While carrying the coffins the crowd was chorusing anti-regime slogan, asking the international community to bear witness of the crimes committed against peaceful Yemeni people.

And in spite of the anger and the sorrow which is crushing hearts, Yemen went on chanting: "Peaceful, peaceful".

Also one million hand prints for a civil state: Red is for the people murdered and blue is for peace. (Link here.)

October 22, 2011

Here's the problem I'm having with some of my friends who point out that Islamists make up a portion of the opposition of [insert name of Arab country here], therefore any show of support for the opposition is de facto a support for Islamism.

Ummmm, okay.

Look, we are not talking here about the choice between Dictator X and liberal reformer Y. The choices in the world just aren't that clear cut.

I'd love for those to be our choices, but they're not. Given the choice between a dictator like Ghaddafi with American blood on his hands and an imperfect opposition movement, I choose the opposition.

Further, if the choice is between the enemy of my enemy spilling blood or my own troops, I choose the enemy of my enemy.

No, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. He's my ally.

Better they die in a mutually beneficial cause then us.

The same principle holds in Yemen where a woman with ties to Islamists won the Nobel Peace prize. I don't give the Nobel Prize much credence as anything more than what Norwegian politicians think, but the reaction about Tawakkol Karman sharing in the prize has been, well, kinda stupid.

This isn't the choice between a pro-American dictator and Lockean liberals, it's the choice between a Pakistani like "ally" which pays lip service to the GWOT but who had deep ties to al Qaeda and Saudi style Islamists and those that oppose him. That the opposition is made up of other Islamists is just part of the game you play in the Arab world. It's also made up of socialists, Baathists, and whatever other insane and discredited ideology still lingering in the region.

Our own Jane has an article over at PJM about the controversy and sums it up nicely thus:

Those questioning Ms. Karman’s beliefs might do well to consider the positive impact of her work and the courage necessary to stand in Yemen as a woman and proclaim freedom as a birthright. These scholars may do better exploring broader issues like the long standing democratic consensus at the heart of the Yemeni revolution, President Saleh’s payments to al-Qaeda, and the Sana’a regime’s expansive criminal enterprises including gun running, currency forgery, drug smuggling, and, sadly, human trafficking.

October 15, 2011

Early stats: - 10 killed, 78 injured by bullets, 140 injured by tear gas, 15 other injures and 11 in critical condition; roof top snipers, blocked ambulances, no meds. Since protests for regime change began in February, over 500 unarmed protesters were killed and thousands shot.

October 10, 2011

That is all.

(Its the first confirmation by the al Qaeda terrorist group of their operative's death since the drone strike. All the e-haddis that had been holding out hope must be crying in their tea today. They also confirm Sami is dead and by omission, that bomb-maker Ibrahim al Asiri is not, which we all knew last week.)

Ah, maybe a little more hammer:

October 09, 2011

October 07, 2011

I'm so pleased that Tawakkol Karaman won the Nobel Peace Prize along with two other female activists. Tawakkol is an amazing woman who led protests every Tuesday for two years in a row--prior to the revolution. A journalist, Tawakkol was denied a newspaper license and championed media freedom, putting out a semi-annual comprehensive report on all the violations against journalists as well as a comprehensive report detailing corruption in Yemen--who stole what when and how it added up to billions embezzled annually. She is a leader of today's Yemeni revolution, always on the front line facing down the rifles. Update: Tawakkol is also on the leadership council of the uber-scary Islah political party, the Islamic Reform Party, which is quite diverse; many members are young vibrant pro-democracy reformists.

I'm reprinting a 2005 letter Tawakkol wrote to the American people after Hurricane Catrina:

9/6/05 Dear Jane Novak, My name is Tawakkul A. Karman, I'm from Yemen, and I'm a journalist, at the same time I'm the Chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Borders. I'm sending to you this letter with my best regards, wishing this letter would find you in best health, and to share with the American people during this hard time they are passing through now and was caused by "Catrina" hurricane. Brother Abdulkarim al-khaiwany has informed me to contact you because you would be the best person who can convey our condolences to the American People (either governmental or non-governmental offices), you would find an attachment condolences letter attached to this e-mail. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Borders Tawakkul A. Karman

To the Victims of "Catrina" hurricane:

Yemeni Women Journalists Without Borders, is sending to you their best regards hoping this letter would find you in a best shape, at the same time we would like to express to you our condolences for the victims of "Catrina" hurricane. We're sure that the American nation will pass this tragedy with more strength, and hope for brighter future. God Bless you all.

Sincerely,
Chairwoman of
Women Journalists Without Borders.
Tawakkul A. Karman

A 2008 post: Tawwakkol Karaman is an AMAZING woman who is under severe threat from the Yemeni regime for her civil society work. She is currently in fear for her life and is also getting threats on kids. They write nasty stuff about her in the yellow tabloids. Why? Because she, like al-Khaiwani, believes in democracy and freedom of speech. (Also Yemen is ranked the number one most gender unequal society in the world, so she faces a second set of challenges.) Some of her reports on press freedom are here

This is a 2007 profile I wrote about Tawakkol:

Tawakol Karman is the founder and Chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains (WJC). Ms. Karaman is an effective Yemeni activist dedicated to advancing press freedom in Yemen. Hood on Line, the Yemeni National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, notes that Tawakul Karman has been harassed for more than a year. For example, she received a phone call November 12, 2007 from the Yemeni phone number (011-967)734606844 in which she was accused of undermining national unity because she attended public rallies in Radfan and Dhalie which called for enhanced democracy. She received death threats on herself and her children and was ordered to stay at home, which she did not. Ms. Karman also received numerous lewd messages repeating the slander published in the attack newspapers, Al-Dastor and Al-Belad.

On December 1, 2007 Political Security Organization confiscated WJC documents on press freedom during a civil society exhibition. Ms. Karman and WJC have also been denied a newspaper license despite fulfilling legal requirements. The organization was originally called Female Reporters Without Borders, but a regime-loyal clone was issued a license for the same name.

Among Ms. Karman's many accomplishments is the production of the Semi-Annual Press Freedom Report which showed an uptick in assaults on Yemeni journalists with 53 recorded in 2005 and 69 in 2006. Another WJC report tallies hundreds of assaults on journalistic freedom by perpetrator and finds the National Security Organization the biggest violator. The Ministry of Information, Ministry of Interior, Political Security Office and the Military Guidance Unit also committed numerous attacks.

She lead journalists in a weekly sit-in protesting a regime ban on text message news alerts. At the seventh weekly sit-in by journalists in Sana'a, Ms. Karman explained, “While we are holding this sit-in for the sake of freedom of expression and the right of having its media means, we salute journalist, Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani, and announce our solidarity with him, considering him one of the pioneers of freedom of expression” She added. “The good pressmen are being violated, imprisoned, abducted, beaten, and wiretapped all over Yemen.” After fourteen weeks, the ban was reversed with the exception of WJC's text messages, which remained banned.

In the highly conservative Islamic country, "Karman is one of very few Yemeni women who removed her face veil publicly to prove that Islam doesn't impose the face veil on women, so she used herself as an example," the Yemen Times noted. During the cartoon controversy, Ms. Karman wrote an article, "Burning Embassies Is Not the Way", which stated, "We are not to call for tyranny and bans on freedom."

Speaking at a forum against organized violence, Tawakol Karman said she could not find herself offended in “an offended country in general”. She noted, “ I have received many critical messages about alleged relations with American and about my parent’s remorse to get a girl like me. But many Yemeni men face more violence than women,” NewsYemen reported. In the recent past, the death threats on Tawwaol Karaman and her children intensified and she is currently in fear for her life.

This is the face of today's Yemeni Revolution.

Update: if you have two minutes, listen to young blogger/activist Afrah Nasser (first link) for a real sense of Yemenis, the revolution and what the prize means. And an article by Tawakkol from this year in the Guardian about the Yemeni revolution. Better photo from today:

October 04, 2011

I began calling Yemeni President Saleh the King of Spin in 2005 when i realized that everything out of his mouth is a lie, propaganda or half truth.

My article at PJM today touches on one aspect of this mass duplicity--the double game they are playing and have been playing for a decade, paying al Qaeda while sucking up US CT funding. Meanwhile the CT commanders are the president's relatives and have been directing violence against the protesters. Its here: Yemen’s Theater of the Absurd

October 02, 2011

For the second time the Sanaa regime has "accidentally" bombed the troops fighting al Qaeda. The last time, in early August dozens of the tribal fighters against al Qaeda were killed as well as four military commanders. The tribesmen later said that al Qaeda fighters were lying in wait after the bombing, as if it was coordinated with them. And this time, the al Qaeda fighters were laying in wait again. The Air Force is led by Yemen the half-brother of President Saleh, Mohammed Saleh Ahmar.

USA Today: The officials said the bombing, which took place on Saturday evening in the southern Abyan province, targeted an abandoned school used as shelter by soldiers of the army's 119th Brigade. The school is located just east of Abyan's provincial capital Zinjibar, where militants linked to al-Qaeda have been in control since May.... there were unconfirmed reports that militants arrived at the school soon after the airstrike and killed an unspecified number of wounded troops.

The school is in the Bagdar area, along the frontline between Yemeni forces and militants. On Saturday, fighting in Zinjibar killed at least 28 soldiers and militants.

The 119th Brigade has rebelled against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to join the protest movement demanding his ouster. It is thought to have received significant support from the U.S. military to enable it to fight the militants in the south more efficiently.

Yemen Related Update: Yemen officials report that bomb maker Ibrahim al Asiri was not killed in the air strike that got Anwar and Sami.

September 30, 2011

Anwar al-Awlaki, DEAD!

Samir Khan, DEAD!

Breaking News!

The US-born radical Islamist cleric and suspected al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen, the country's defence ministry has said.

A statement said only that he died "along with some of his companions."

UPDATE by Matt Damon: Looks like it may have been a drone that got him.

Al-Arabiya television network cited local tribal sources as saying suspected U.S. drone aircraft - which are known to operate in Yemen - fired two missiles Friday at a convoy of vehicles believed to be carrying al-Awlaki and his guards.

Remember Sammy keep looking up......there is a drone with your name on it.

UPDATE II by Matt Damon: From Jake Tapper twitter account.

@ Jaketapper
Jake Tapper Sr admin officials tell ABC News that al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed

Update: Saints be praised Samir Khan is dead!

Yemen Defense Ministry says another American in al-Qaida, Samir Khan, was killed with al-Awlaki

As you know, the Arab world is rife with rumor that passes as fact. We'll keep you posted, but given that US officials are confirming off the record that Awlaki is dead, then I'll have to treat the naysaying as rumors until we hear otherwise.

The really personal news here would be that Samir Khan is dead. As long time readers know, Samir and I have had personal disputes over the years. It was Samir, then blogging as Inshallahshaheed, who threatened to kill my family. He even made this nice little graphic to go along with the threat.

Inshallahshaheed is Arabic for God willing, a martyr. Well, you got your wish Samir.

He who laughs last, laughs loudest.

Also, the guy not killed in a drone strike. He laughs loudest, too.

Update by Rusty: Sources in Yemen clarify why the rumor that he survived started: there were two missiles, he survived the first one .... but that second one? That one was the kill shot.

Update by Rusty: I like this from Malkin, who anticipates the reaction of the far left and some in the Ron Paul nutzo camp:

Obama’s far left flank will be unhappy if the mission to kill Awlaki, an American citizen, was successful. They will again decry such drone strikes against American citizens as unprecedented and lawless.

On this, I will come to Obama’s defense.

Awlaki’s membership and leadership in al Qaeda is undisputed.

We are at war.

And on cue, Glenn Greenwald opens his mouth and proves that he's an idiot. Update: And the chief Paultard himself, Ron Paul.

Update by Rusty: Two conflicting tales of how big this is by CT analysts.

Alix Levine: It's big

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Not as big as you might think.

I'm with Alix, it's big. What Daveed is talking about is the long-term resilience of al Qaeda. Yes, they're resilient ... but Samir and Awlaki are media personalites that they won't be able to replace very easily. And since they both were raised in America, they will have a hard time finding someone to fill their shoes. Even Adam Gadahn, another al Qaeda propagandist from the US, didn't have the same type of impact on Western audiences.

Samir, especially, spoke in terms that American and English speaking European radicals could relate to. Gadahn has been in Afghanistan/Pakistan so long, that he sounds no different than any other radical from the Middle East.

In a tweet to me, Daveed actually agrees with this sentiment. It's just a matter of long vs. short-term perspective. But let's not be buzzkills today, okay people? It's a day to celebrate.

Yassin Musharbash

If the reports are true, then AQAP has lost its most important propagandist.

In fact, here's an early CT analysis roundup over at Jihadica.

Also, Intelwire.

Update by Rusty: President Obama, speaking live at Admiral Mullen's retirement, has confirmed that Awlaki is dead!

One last thought: If Samir was in one of the cars, is it possible that the other American traitor -- the mysterious "editor" of Inspire, Yayha Ibrahim, also killed?

Update by Rusty: Wow, I can't thank Michelle Malkin enough for the lengthy post praising our work over the years counterring Khan's online radicalization message. Thanks Michelle!

Update by Rusty: Live press conference at WH.

Not a lot of details, so far, but a reiteration of news that came out earlier that we are now calling Awlaki “chief of external operations” for AQAP. In other words, his role wasn't simply "inspirational", it was operational.

Update: Carney says he doesn't have any information on whether or not Samir Khan was also killed.

Update by Rusty: Lulz, CAIR joins the lunatic left on right, concerned over "Constitutional issues" raised by killing traitors who openly admit they are at war with US.

Update by Rusty: Was Samir Khan guilty of being an American traitor? That's the question being asked by the left. But let's see how Samir answered this question in his own words.

Any questions?

Update by Rusty: Here's a good roundup, and here, and another one from Stacey McCain.

And over at PJM's The Tatler, they are running a number of old posts reminding us that Awlaki once was in tight with the powers that be in Washington. How tight? Well, he once trained Muslim chaplains on Capital Hill and lectured on Islam inside the Pentagon.

UPDATE by Rusty: An poster at the top tier al Qaeda linked al Fidaa forum claims he's from Yemen, and that Samir Khan has indeed been killed. Roggio posts the SITE news:

May Allah bless you my noble brothers. The news is true. We say, may Allah have mercy on our sheikh and our beloved, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed this morning in the area between al-Jawf and Marib in a Hilux 2005 vehicle, along with six people accompanying him...

Peace be upon you my dear brother. By Allah, I am from Yemen. Allah is witness that this news came upon us like a thunderbolt, but we consider him a martyr, because he was martyred along with another person, an American citizen of Pakistani origin who specialized in programming. The news was confirmed to me, and I apologize for the delay, because I was praying.

Bwahahahaaa update: It now appears that Anwar al-Awlaki will never again enjoy the company of a street hooker <---h/t: Will Amos

UPDATE by Rusty: Fingerprints confirmed identities of Awlaki and Khan:

U.S. operatives on the ground in Yemen used fingerprint analysis to confirm that a joint CIA-military drone strike Friday killed American militants Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan, according to a U.S. government official briefed on the operation....

“Samir Khan was a bonus. It was a twofer,” said Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security. “It’s a pretty good hit.”

..Kelly said Khan had extensive contacts in New York City and published the English language Inspire Magazine, which instructed lone wolves on how to build bombs at home, and in the most recent issue identified Grand Central Station as a target.

Kelly said Al-Awlaki was focused like no other on attacking the U.S. and Khan legitimized attacking women and children.

2007
Pre-Outing: 6 months before NYT's outed Samir, post about his blog
Irony: Samir predicts Allah will protect his blog
The Web of American Bloggers and The Terrorists They Facilitate
Muslim Blogger Advises: Join, Fund, Blog, and Pray for Terrorists
Post-Outing

Samir Khan Threatens Rusty
Inshallashshaheed Outted: North Carolina Jihadi in the News
Samir Khan talked to GIMF terrorists online
Samir Khan IS Our Bitch
For Samir Khan Inshallahshaheed: Rot in Hell you SOB Traitor!!!
"Pray for al Qaeda in Iraq"

2008
Khan challenges Rusty to come to Charlotte and fight (LOL)
Khan threatens Geert Wilders
Samir Khan Justifies, Equivocate Mumbai Massacre
Samir Khan Unemployed, Has More Time for Online Jihad
Charlotte Jihadi Asked "Are you anti-American?"
Samir Khan's Inshallahshaheed Humiliation Continues, Blog Homeless Again
Inshallahshaheed (Sammy) is Darth Odie's Beotch!
A Reply to Inshallahshaheed
Samir Khan aka Inshallahshaheed Hearts Westboro Babtist Church
Inshallahshaheed Blog Down Again!
Khan's friend arrested in Boston
American Muslim Explains the Morality and Genius of 9/11
Praises Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al Libi of al Qaeda from Mom's basement

2009
Khan starts practice run for al Qaeda, starts his own jihadi magazine
Samir Khan's Idiotic Magazine Hits MSM: How Ghey is the Jihadi Workout?
Sammy and Joey Release Jihad Recollections #2
American Muslim Prays for Release of al Qaeda Terrorists
Samir Khan: Soon, The Blessed Invasion of Manhattan-- "Special Gift" for 9/11
Samir Khan should really stop hotlinking us (hilarity ensues)!
Inshallahshaheed AKA Samir Khan Steals Bill Roggio's Post Gets PWN3d!
In which we take down another of Samir Khan's blogs.
Inshallahshahheed Back Online
Inshallahshaheed: Warning, This Video Contains Music
Inshallahshaheed (Samir Khan) Banned from Image Shack/Internet
Khan's blog calls for killing of US soldiers

2010
Is North Carolina's Samir Khan Behind New al Qaeda Magazine? Quotes Yousef al-Khattab
Samir Khan: American al Qaeda
Samir Khan's Magazine Helped Swedish Bomber Blow Himself Up
Khan introduced convicted terrorist Zach Chesser to indicted terrorist Younes Abdullah Muhammad
Samir Khan behind graphics of new Al Qaeda recruiting magazine Inspire: officials
Charlotte Blogger Probably Acting in Operational Capacity for AQAP
Khan connected to would-be Oregon bomber
Federal grand jury meets to consider evidence against Samir Khan

2011
Samir Khan Begs American Muslims to Blow Themselves Up
Another Samir Khan "Inspired" Plot?
Academic Paper: Let's Kill Samir Khan & Anwar al Awlaki!
AQAP's Samir Khan (aka, Inshallahshaheed) Helping Fellow American Terrorist Omar Hammami (aka, Abu Mansour Al-Amriki) of al Shabaab
Khan Celebrates 9/11 .... 16 Days Late!

---Celebratory updates bumped down ---

UPDATE by DMartyr:

Update by Howie: Please M.C. Vader, don't hurt 'em!

Also, Party Time Videos below!!

Added this video, thanks to Legionnaire of the Banned. Very nice!

September 29, 2011

The UN Human Rights Commission adopted Yemen's proposed statement on the violence in Yemen and then asked it to investigate itself, will check back in next year.

President Saleh is going to start bombing cities tomorrow with this weak willed international sanction that doesn't even name the murderers. What cowards.

I guess naming state security forces as the guilty party would highlight the complicity of the US trained Counter Terror Units and undoubtedly the culpability of their US allied and funded commanders (Saleh's relatives) in numerous massacres. They have slaughtered nearly 1000 protesters in Yemen and over 10,000 are wounded.

Either Obama officials have no clue about what is actually going on in Yemen, or they think the opposition may become more subverted by al Qaeda than the existing regime. But that's a theoretical calculation that entirely discounts the millions calling for regime change and a civil (non-military, non-theocratic) government. The undeniable reality is that the Sanaa regime is currently paying al Qaeda and used them to target opponents for two decades.

Its a total disaster and the blow back is going to be a bitch. Its a terrifying situation in that the dictator Saleh is a bloodthirsty lunatic who values nothing beyond staying in power and stealing money. And he's just been given the green light by the entire world to open fire on unarmed protesters in order to accomplish his goals.

Source: AFP, The UN Human Rights Council Thursday slammed violations in Yemen but did not say if they were committed by troops loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh or rival tribesmen and renegade troops.

The resolution, proposed by Yemen itself and adopted by consensus, asked the office of the UN rights chief Navi Pillay to present a progress report on the situation in the country during the next sitting of the council in 2012.

It also noted the Yemeni authorities’ pledge to launch ‘transparent and independent investigations, which will adhere to international standards’ on the alleged abuses.

Saleh, who is under international pressure to relinquish power and allow new elections, returned to the country on Friday, sparking violence in which scores have been killed.

September 28, 2011

19,999 left to find?

Via NYT

SANA, Yemen — Rebel tribesmen[?...ed] in a mountainous region just north of the capital brought down a military aircraft on Wednesday, Yemen’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Soviet-era crashed roughly 30 miles north of the capital, Sana, as it was “carrying out a routine task this morning,” according to the statement, which was published on a Web site run by the ministry.

September 27, 2011

via email. This is an excerpt that deals with tribal mediation efforts last month in Abyan with top al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leaders. Sheikh Hussain is one of the local dignitaries that attempted to convince al Qaeda to lay down their arms and withdraw. Another section regarding evolving concepts of jihad, US counter-terror tactics and other related topics will be published later.

Zinjibar, Abyan’s capital, has been under the control of al Qaeda mercenaries since May when security forces withdrew, leaving behind a large cache of weapons. State sponsored jihaddists captured the weapons, looted the city and declared an Islamic Emirate. They later beheaded a suspected witch and chopped off the arm of a teen-age thief. Yemen’s counter-terror forces did not engage the terrorists but instead deployed to Sana’a to protect the palace.

Q4: I learned from XXX you have contributed in mediation between the al-Qaeda, which controls parts of the south, and the tribes. Can you explain to us what kind of mediation and what resulted?

A4: Yes, I mediated after some tribal and other notables asked me, including some leaders of the ruling party in the province of Abyan. I responded to the request and was accepted in the tribes in the city claiming in the province of Abyan. Despite all the good that I do, our efforts are still ongoing, and the most important thing for us is to convince the young al-Qaeda to withdraw from the provincial capital of Zanzibar and return the situation as before, then arrange the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Our efforts are underway and there were some obstacles, the most important of which is that there are parties in the State and others that struggle to serve its interests and the achievement of its objectives, but there is no shortage of God's solution.

Q5: There is a lot of talk that some of the devices of the Saleh regime are in favor of al-Qaeda taking control of some areas of the south. Are you able to confirm that?

A5: The role of the leaders of the brigades of the Saleh regime in Abyan and Aden was clearly evident on what happened and is happening in Zanzibar, the capital of Abyan province. The city was handed over entirely to al-Qaeda. Security pulled out of the military forces that were stationed there, including the central security. The sudden withdrawal from the city sparked surprise among all observers.

The modern Yemeni street and the south know of the existence of a conspiracy by the Saleh regime to deliver Abyan into the situation as it is now. We are accustomed to such policies from the Saleh regime which uses and always used al Qaeda fighters in any internal conflict between him and his opponents. The regime used them in the summer 94 and used them in wars on the Houthis in Saada. It is no secret that those who blew up the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on 17 \ 9 \ 2009, were some military officers and they used a military vehicle and hired al Qaeda fighters giving them military uniforms. The Saleh regime is not to be trusted on anything, it is the cause of all problems of the country.

I think that the situation worsened for Ali Saleh when he learned that the southern movement has almost complete control of the province of Abyan, after control of Lahj, and the young Qaeda fighters were planted there by Saleh, as it is known that Abyan province is representing the South.

Q6: What is your view of the U.S. role in combating terrorism in Yemen?

A6: I welcome the U.S. role in the fight against terrorism through dialogue and scientific discussion rather than violence and military intervention. As I said before, violence only begets more violence, we welcome that any role of the U.S. put an end to violence and terrorism and that is peaceful.

Most Yemenis believe that AQAP operates as an arm of the Yemeni intelligence and security services. There are substantial indications of the relationship. With the revolution in full swing, defectors are starting to come forward with details.

Judge Hamoud al Hittar is the head of Yemen’s now defunct Koranic Dialog Committee that "rehabilitated" 342 hardened al Qaeda operatives. A former Minster of Endowments, al Hittar said recently that the Saleh regime is "supporting a number of al Qaeda members in Abyan to frighten the West, and to suppress the Yemeni revolution."

Judge Al Hittar said many of the top al Qaeda members who he met during dialog sessions are, “dealing with the Yemeni regime and receiving financial rewards." A well established system of communication and payments to al Qaeda militants is headed by three security officials, “one in a Presidential Guards, the second in the National Security and the third in the Interior Ministry." (The Central Security forces are within the Interior Ministry and contain one of the counter-terror units.) In essence, the same counter-terror commanders the US is relying on for its national security are paying al Qaeda to engage in violence, foster insecurity and heighten the US’s threat perception.

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah al Asnag wrote in June about the conflict in Abyan, “Although the government has declared the dead as terrorists, a substantial number of these supposed terrorists have turned out to be on the payroll of the National Security Agency (headed by Ammar Saleh). Many families of the deceased and supposed terrorists have reported that their sons were employed by the National Security Agency and some families even presented NSA ID Cards belonging to the deceased.”

Over 100,000 Yemeni civilians have fled the violence in Abyan, and are sheltering in schools in Aden. A military brigade that refused to surrender to the terrorists was left stranded by the Defense Ministry and under assault by al Qaeda for two months without reinforcements or food. The US ultimately resupplied them by air. About 1500 local tribesmen came together to fight alongside the besieged unit against al Qaeda, and in late July, the Yemeni air force “accidentally” bombed the tribesmen, killing dozens.

- Jane

September 06, 2011

Alleged witch murdered by al Qaeda.

September 01, 2011

I've hated the Sixers since the time Wilt Chamberlain betrayed Conan the Destroyer. Now I have a second reason to hate them.

Go Lakers!

Thanks to Rafael.

August 22, 2011

Following up on our earlier report, Al Qaeda takes over third Yemen city , this article at Yaf3 Press says the intra-terrorist conflict described earlier between the AQAP (Marib, Sanaa and foreign jihaddists) and southern jihaddists (the Aden Abyan Islamic Army types) in Abyan arose from the division of the spoils of jihad. The items stolen in the Abyan fighting were transported to Marib, and southern fighters were told to collect their portion there from the Emir. The vehicles transporting the goods, weapons or money passed all government checkpoints, including in the capital, without a problem the article says.

Once violent clashes broke out, the fitna as JM Berger called it, the command center and some commanders were relocated to Marib.

There seems to be a reference to the killing of prisoners which was the beginning of the dispute between northern and southern terrorists in Abyan. The article also says locals found decapitated bodies. The tension was exacerbated when the northern jihaddists looted Abyan and didn't share on the spot.

The article is from Yaf3 Press, meaning of the Yafee tribe (but not necessarily an official outlet).There's an upper and lower Yafee tribe in Abyan and beyond. The news site is Abyan-centric, within its broader pro-southern independence, pro-democracy focus. There are also Bakil and Hashid news sites and the young Marib sheikhs recently made a Youtube video in order to communicate with the rest of the country.

To follow is the article, google translated:

Abyan: Facts published for the first time on the sharp differences between the militants as a result of regional distribution of the spoils and they are now in a state of collapse. Newspaper Yafea / 20 / August / 2011 pm Sat

Sources told "Yafea newspaper that" the divisions are between the militants who took control of the city of Zanzibar, in a region of show (Abyan), and that the beginning of the differences among them were the spoils seized in fierce confrontations with the Yemeni army,. The reason for the dispute among themselves is the distribution of the spoils, which is converted (transported) to the province of Marib, and when the southern gunmen asked where was theirs, they were told for their share, go to the Prince in the province of Marib to get your share of them

The sources said that militants belonging to the southern provinces sought distribution of the spoils in the show (Abyan) and were asked to travel to the Marib province to get their share and it is easy to order the division of spoils and gets his share of each one of them? Rejected by belonging to the (southern) provinces, and the Northern (jihaddists) insisted that the distribution is in the province of Marib,

The source said that the booty seized (in Abyan was transported) in cars carrying the transfer to the province of Marib and passed through checkpoints across the capital and personal relationships, influence and they reached safe and that's what made ​​it suspicious, and places a question mark about this.

The dispute intensified until it reached a state of confrontation and fighting among themselves, and left those encounters a number of deaths among them, Has had a command center in the province of Abyan, however the command center has been moved to the province of Marib, fearing clashes intensified after each other, including the transfer of some leaders described as the princes to the province of Marib,

(Referring here to when the Yemeni Air Force "accidentally" bombed the tribesmen fighting al Qaeda tribesmen) The source added that the clashes Dows , which was described as a "massacre" and the transfer of the media that warplanes bombed the area and had killed 40 of the tribesmen and more than 80 wounded were not as novel, published earlier where to be correct in the novel that the militants surrounded the tribesmen in Dows and caused a blockade on them until they were strong families,

Came news of the Brigade 25 Mechanized Brigade bombing and deal with the goal, was to act to bomb insurgents capturing number of men of the tribes, and also the signal for the insurgents to attack the prisoners, and the operation took place on this basis,

The sources said that, after the implementation process and the withdrawal of gunmen, arrived in a number of those who tried to help in an attempt to take the dead, and also to help the people of the region and found that many of the dead were separated from their heads for their body as a result of the liquidation of the prisoners by the insurgents as he said that the tribesmen were in families and under siege by gunmen.

The sources said that the sharp differences now between the zonal (provinces) and became insurgents, "South and North" and that morale had become shaky in the collapse as a result of these differences, there is a breakdown in their structure in the province of Abyan and what is happening lately, is the liquidation of operations,

The source said that a large number of militants belonging to the northern regions began to withdraw from the show the intensity differences.

The rest of it talks about attacks on supply routes as related to the take over of Shakra.

The sources said that the process of Shakra (the third town that fell to AQAP) is after it was captured on the supply routes in and out in case of emergency by the tribesmen and to crush them, and also the result of "killing their folks that are funded through supply from other regions and the process of Shakra is in retaliation after the fall of a number of them in clashes supply, which is funded through, and also began besieged tribesmen and cut off their supply routes to the province of Marib,

The sources said that sporadic clashes in Shakra and Dows and tendon near Lauder and a number of sites were the most violent and left a number of dead and wounded from both sides but it was not possible to know how the loss of life for lack of information and safe ways to get them, and that the militants have teams carrying their wounded and bury their dead on the face of speed,

He emphasized that what is happening in the province of Abyan is a result of the collapse of the state and that these processes are based on the case of the playoffs, looting, and there are forces in the governorate of Abyan jostling for a loan in themselves and making money and to escape from the situation in Yemen.

The sources said that the foreign aircraft was shot down yesterday the first funding to be "men of the tribes and camps," but it also described the error received by the gunmen did not reach to the bodies which had been scheduled funding,

He said that making money in the institution of the competent military confrontations in the show (the war economy in Abyan) that there are initiatives by the blocks serving terms of access to adequate funding "and are distributed on the basis of funding the insurgency," they acted not have to see through the light and work as a description.

He described these cases that there are blocks Tstrozk of these confrontations in the expressed willingness to confrontations armed condition that is funded supplies necessary and after obtaining this supply is distributed among them as "Alrtzkh" and ends, and may have been a number of cases and variations on this in the city of Aden between these blocks.

The sources said that there is a question presents itself and is trading in the corridors: the confrontations show vague and ask from behind these processes and what are the goals for as long as the gunmen were dealing in these ways that Otdl on the goal they have, although the results of their behavior at this critical time indicated on the beneficiary who is?

- Jane

August 18, 2011

--- Bumped, because it's important ---

In reporting about Yemen, discrepancies abound. Even before the six month revolution, the dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh was a master of propaganda and constructed complex plots to give the west the appearance of reform or counter-terror cooperation when in fact the reverse was true. By the same token, the newspapers associated with opposition parties have a tendency to skew reporting for political advantage.

The news that AQAP, the Yemeni affiliate of al Qaeda, took over a third town in the Abyan province, Shaqra, has inconsistencies, depending on who is reporting it. The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, based on statements from regime officials, is reporting the battle for control of the town lasted days, but multiple Yemeni sites have eyewitnesses who say the military abandoned the town after an hour of light skirmishes amid retreat. China is a prime purchaser of Yemeni oil and has thwarted Security Council statements denouncing the state's slaughter of Yemeni protesters.

One eyewitness reported to al Teef, an opposition site, that, "I saw them (al Qaeda members) this morning entering the city on the cars owned by the Yemeni army. They were carrying machine guns and RPG's."

Yemenis from all walks, from politicians to street vendors, are adamant that in May the Saleh regime relinquished control of Abyan’s capital Zinjibar to Al Qaeda as a foreign policy strategy, -i.e., to pressure the US into supporting the widely reviled dictatorship.

In July, local tribesmen began a counter-offensive against the al Qaeda fanatics, driving them back from several areas. The Yemeni Air Force then bombed tribesmen, killing dozens along with two Yemeni military officers. State officials said it was a mistake, although tribal fighters had notified the Air Force of their position.

My article today at the Yemen Times provides some background:
Al Qaeda in Yemen alienates local jihaddists

SANA’A, Aug 17 — Local jihaddists in Abyan, Yemen are fighting their former allies, al Qaeda militants from other countries and other Yemeni provinces, for control of Ja’ar City. The combined group, which calls itself “Ansar al Shariah,” has been in control of areas of Abyan since May when the military withdrew.

Clashes between local jihaddists and al Qaeda erupted Monday morning, al Teef reported. The local militants’ commander, Abullatif Al Sayed, tried to expel the non-resident terrorists who had earlier joined their operations for control of the province. Many came from Marib and are linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The gun battle that ensued raged for hours and the number of casualties is unknown.

Al Sayed objected to the “vast destruction” and “looting” that the AQAP members inflicted on the city.

In May, President Saleh warned of an al Qaeda take over if he was removed from power. Days later military units withdrew from the capital of Abyan, Zinjibar, leaving behind a vast cache of weapons. Extremists from across the country moved in to seize control Zinjibar and other cities including Ja’ar, using the state’s abandoned arms. The group branded itself as Ansar al Sharia, and declared the establishment of an Islamic Emirate.

AQAP touted the battles in Abyan in the last issue of its magazine, Inspire, and noted the deaths of long time jihaddists Ali Abdullah al Harithi and Ammar al Waeli in a June 3rd US air strike in Znijibar.

The (pro-revolution) 25th Mechanized Brigade, stationed near Zinjibar, was ordered by the Defense Ministry to surrender to al Qaeda twice but refused. The Yemeni military made little progress against the terrorists for two months. The 25th Mechanized was besieged without resupply or reinforcements for two months.

Yemen’s US trained elite counter-terror units were not deployed against the terrorists in Abyan but against unarmed youthful revolutionaries across the nation. Millions of Yemenis have been protesting since February for the removal of the entire Saleh regime and the establishment of a transitional council. Opposition parties said the council will be announced on August 17.

As a result of the stalemate in Abyan and the devastating humanitarian crisis that unfolded—100,000 residents fled the fighting—an estimated 1600 tribesmen joined in support of the 25th Mechanized to engage the militants. The ad hoc force wrested control of Lauder and parts of Zinjibar from the jihaddists. In July, Yemen’s Air Force “accidentally” bombed the tribesmen, killing nine along with two military commanders.

The stance of the local tribesmen against the jihaddist forces exacerbated the divisions among them, SaadaAden website noted. The local jihaddists accused AQAP of creating “overwhelming discontent” among the population in “a war without limits.”

The local jihaddists, as distinct from al Qaeda, have no transnational coordination, support or goals and never pledged loyalty to any external entity or person (except President Saleh). This group first emerged as the Aden Abyan Islamic Army in the 1990’s and long aspired to an Islamic Emirate in Abyan. The group tried to impose a Taliban style government and murdered four suspected homosexuals when they were last in control of Ja’ar in 2009. At that time, they called themselves Jamaat al Jihad or the Jihad group.

However leader Khalidabdul al Nabi’s call for an Islamic Emirate in December 2009 produced some skepticism as he has had a long, mutually beneficial relationship with the state and bounces between playing the terrorist villain and reformed jihaddist as needed by Saleh.

- Jane

August 13, 2011

The bad news:

For more than a year, according to classified intelligence reports, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen has been making efforts to acquire large quantities of castor beans, which are required to produce ricin, a white, powdery toxin that is so deadly that just a speck can kill if it is inhaled or reaches the bloodstream.

Intelligence officials say they have collected evidence that Qaeda operatives are trying to move castor beans and processing agents to a hideaway in Shabwa Province, in one of Yemen’s rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents. The officials say the evidence points to efforts to secretly concoct batches of the poison, pack them around small explosives, and then try to explode them in contained spaces, like a shopping mall, an airport or a subway station.

But on the small chance that they get this right, be vigilant.

August 12, 2011

Remember how Osama bin Laden was thinking of changing the name "al Qaeda" to something new and sexy? Well, it looks like al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may be following that sentiment.

Changing brand names or creating subsidiary organizations for the hardcore Salaafi jihadists is nothing new. You'll recall that an Arab splinter group from the Kurdish Ansar al Islam began calling itself first Tawhid wal Jihad and then al Qaeda in Iraq only to drop the al Qaeda brand in favor of The Mujahideen Shura Council and then The Islamic State of Iraq. The two last groups being wholly owned subsidiaries of al Qaeda, complete with sock-puppet "local" leaders with obvious names like "al-Baghdadi".

Such brand name changes may, as Aaron notes, reflect the falling stock of the al Qaeda franchise. But in this case, as in Iraq, it is probably more of an indication that the group wishes to portray itself as an indigenous movement rather than directed by "foreign" forces.

In the end, though, it doesn't really matter what you call yourself. Something like looking and acting like a duck comes to mind here.

August 05, 2011

***BUMPED & STICKY***SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS***

Hundreds of thousands in Taiz Yemen held a protest against Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Thursday evening after prayers. Protesters held signs denouncing AQAP that said, “Your racism will do nothing but make us stronger.”

Protesters denounced AQAP's media statements and their attempted takeover in Abyan, which displaced 90,000.

Protesters rejected the state’s use of the al Qaeda “bogeyman” to garner western support and affirmed that Taiz is known as a “city of science and always stands against terrorists and terrorism.”

Protests for regime change in Yemen began in January. Most Yemenis believe the Saleh regime colludes with AQAP. For more on Yemen and the Yemeni revolution, see my site. or my recent article, Yemen's Counter-Terror Chief Accused of Atrocities or my article at PJM Obama fumbles Yemen.

Update by Jane: Yemeni Air Force bombed its own soldiers, killing 200 troops, for refusing to attack civilians. See the Yemen Post. Update 2: Fatality figure may be vastly overstated, see here.

August 03, 2011

Indirectly.

African Union commander: al-Shabaab receiving weapons from Yemen:

I am waiting for the day Sammy, Awlaki, & Hammami are killed courtesy of an American drone. Fecking traitors.

July 25, 2011

Please read our fellow blogger Sweet Jane's article at PajamsMedia

You go girl!

"By thwarting regime change in Yemen, the United States risks empowering al-Qaeda and alienating a nation," my article at PJM.

(Check here for updates on the Yemen revolution.)

July 19, 2011

His drawings of AQAP mujahideen appear to depict djinn (Islamic devil) and a no no to draw human forms.

Check out the eyes:

The comics are suppose to show how wonderful shariah is besides the life of the mujahideen. They are also meant as a recruiting tool to join AQAP to fight in the way of Allah. He didn't submit them yet to Samir Khan for consideration to be used in Inspire #6 Rag. I suggest he ask Sammy to use them in the next issue of Inspire.

Bill Ardolino via Threat Matrix

On the off chance the budding artist/terrorist who announced a recruiting cartoon for al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula is reading Threat Matrix, I have some unfortunate news[insert hadiths..ed.....]

Unfortunately, you've committed a grave sin, according to the strict tenets of the Islamic sect of you and your subjects.

In addition - and this may sting worse - your judgment is further called into question for depicting the mujahideen (irhabin) as red-eyed, evil wraiths or djinn in a comic designed to recruit youth to your ostensibly romantic cause.[Continue reading]

Related:
Does AQAP heart Cobra?

July 15, 2011

USS Cole bomber was the target...

It looks like we missed...but take heart....the intel to pinpoint the car he was riding in was spot on......we so own them....matter of time.

NY Times

SANA, Yemen — American drones and fighter jets hit suspected Qaeda-affiliated militants in southern Yemen early Thursday, killing at least eight fighters sleeping in a police station they had overrun, according to local residents and American and Yemeni security officials.

The strikes were part of an expanded air war in Yemen by the American military aimed at militants who now control large swaths of southern Yemen amid a power struggle in the impoverished desert country.

In recent months, the Obama administration has escalated a campaign of airstrikes carried out by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command with the assistance of the C.I.A. The C.I.A. is building a base in the region to serve as a hub for future operations in Yemen.

According to both American and Yemeni officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the attacks in Yemen are rarely acknowledged publicly, the strike on Thursday hit a police station that had been occupied by 20 militant fighters in the town of Al Wadyia, in Abyan Province in southern Yemen. One Yemeni security official said that eight people had been killed, including the gathering’s leader, identified as Hadi Mohammad Ali.

Separately, a person close to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group responsible for a wave of violence in Yemen and several terrorist plots against the United States, said an American strike on Thursday hit a car thought to be carrying Fahd al-Qusaa, a leader of the group and a suspect in the 2000 bombing of the American destroyer Cole. The person said that Mr. Qusaa and a group of aides had left the car moments before the attack, and local residents said he had survived.

Message to Samir Khan the treasonous piece of crap who fled to Yemen.......don't think they can't find you also.

Sleep well Sammy..

June 22, 2011

Ah Yemen, where the government is actually corrupt enough that a bad movie plot where a conspiracy to let terrorists go just so the government garners some public support isn't actually out of the realm of possibilities. No, seriously. Yemen is that bad.

Do I think that the government was behind the break out? Absolutely. I can't say it goes all the way to the top, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. And at the very least some sympathetic or bought off guards let it happen. ]

How do you not notice all that dirt that suddenly appeared from the digging of the 45 yard long tunnel? That's, literally, tons of dirt.

Unless, of course, one of the prisoners was Capt. Hilts. He'd manage.

Fox News:

In a carefully choreographed escape from the Mukalla prison in Hadramout province, 57 Al Qaeda-linked militants attacked their guards and seized their weapons before they made their way through a 45-yard tunnel to freedom.

Simultaneously, bands of gunmen opened fire at the prison from outside to divert the guards' attention, the officials said.

Bravado is always best right before a predator strike.

June 05, 2011

The bastard is gone, but I don't think they are going home. Saleh went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment and was met at the airport by Tunisia's Bin Ali. I added a new category at my site, "Post-Saleh."

The Demands of the Youth are:

1) Remove the current regime peacefully and remove all its figures and all members of the President's family and his relatives from all leadership posts in the military and civil institutions.

2) Forming a Transitional Presidential Council that constitutes of 5 civil members that are widely known for their competency, integrity and experience. These members have to be approved by the revolution youth leaders and the national powers. Individuals that represent the previous regime should be excluded from the selection. The Transitional Presidential Board will have the responsibility to issue all decision and decrees that will ensure attaining the demands of the revolution. After serving in the Transitional Presidential Board, members will not have the right to run for President or Prime Minister posts until one electoral cycle is completed.

3) After overthrowing the regime the Board has to declare a six month transitional period. This period starts with a constitutional decree announcing the termination of the current constitution and dissolving the Parliament, the Shura Council and the Local Councils.

4) The Transitional Presidential Board will appoint a widely accepted national figure who will form a Transitional Cabinet of qualified technocrats within one month.

5) A Transitional National Board to be formed and include representatives of the youth and all political and national powers. The Transitional National Board will provide: a) A solution for the Southern issue that yields a fair and satisfactory response b) A solution for the Sa'ada Case issue that resolves the preceding effects. c) Monitoring the performance of the Transitional Presidential Board and the Transitional Cabinet. d) Forming a new Supreme Council for Elections which will be responsible for correcting the voter records and preparing for free and fair elections during the transitional period. e) Selecting a Drafting Committee of reliable legal advisors to propose a new constitution for a civil, democratic and modern state that has: a republican parliamentary system based on proportional list-based electoral system, and a system of social justice and equal citizenship. The new constitution has to be completed within three months from its initiation, and the then put for national referendum.

6) Restructuring the higher judicial council to ensure the full separation and impartiality of the judicial authority.

7) Dissolving the Ministry of Information and forming an independent higher authority that will ensure freedom of expression and diversification of media and communication outlets.

8) Dissolving the Ministry of Human Rights and creating an independent higher council for human rights.

9) Legally pursue and prosecute the corrupt officials and retrieve public property and money. 10) Immediate release of all political detainees and the missing persons and dissolving extraordinary courts and private prisons.

11) Legal persecution of all individuals that caused, assisted and incited the killing and injury of those who participated in the peaceful demonstrations. Deliver appropriate compensations to the families of the deceased and honor them duly.

12) Dissolving the Political Security Forces and National Security Forces, and forming a new dedicated national security agency under the umbrella of the Ministry of Interior. The new national security agency will be responsible for observing Yemen’s external threats.

13) Merging the Republican Guards with the Military Forces, and dissolving the National Defense Council to ensure full impartiality of the Army and Security Forces.

Reports this morning are that Yemen's president has fled to Saudi Arabia.

Financial Times: Fears are growing of a power vacuum in Yemen after the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and several senior government ministers fled to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Hat Tip :NPR.

Update by Jane: Nice vid Howie!

June 04, 2011

This is an excerpted statement by Mr. Abdullah Alasnag, Ex–Minister of Foreign Affairs in Yemen who is holding meetings in several Gulf states to end the crisis in Yemen. See full statement at my site.

June 4th, 2011: Multiple reports by eye witnesses on Wednesday 1st of June 2011 confirmed that the beleaguered president is using the American trained and equipped Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) in the ongoing street fighting currently taking place in Sana’a between the dictator’s forces and armed tribesmen loyal to tribal sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmer...

Witnesses and media reports confirmed that the CTU was used by Saleh in an attempt to regain control over government buildings his forces lost to the tribesmen and were unable to regain them by force. In this connection, witnesses specifically recounted street battles in which the CTU was involved during attempts to regain both the Local Governments’ Ministry building as well as the Hasaba District Police station. The CTU lost both battles and suffered heavy losses in terms of both lives and equipment.

These reports confirm earlier reports that Saleh used the CTU to carry out criminal activities and gross human rights violations including the March 18th massacre he committed against peaceful protesters in Sana’a during which 57 demonstrators were killed and hundreds were injured. Following the incident, protesters found ID cards belonging to members of the CTU at a location used by snipers in their targeting of the protesters.

Moreover, Saleh has routinely used the CTU to target his political opponents including the 5th of January 2010 attack on Al-Ayyam Newspaper headquarters in Aden where snipers and night vision goggles were used in the attack. In a similar occurrence in 2010, the American administration was furious when it was made aware that the CTU was used in the Government’s local war with the Houthi rebellion in the northern governorate of Saada.

The disappearance and likely exit of the untrustworthy tyrant following last night’s rebel rocket attack on the Presidential palace in which it was reported that he had suffered minor injuries, presents a small window of opportunity to enable any replacing authority to lead Yemen on the path of stability and into a phase of sound economic development.

Post script by Jane: In light of yesterday's statement by the Pentagon, perhaps Col. Lapan should contact Mr. al Asnag for the copies of the ID cards, contact with the witnesses and other proof.

Reuters: Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said, "Right now we have no evidence that any of the counter-terrorism forces that we have trained are being used against protesters. We have seen reports that they have been engaged with armed forces and are looking for more information on that," Lapan told reporters."

June 03, 2011

PROTEST CAMP STORMED, SET ABLAZE AT 3 AM

Over 250 at least were killed in Taiz, Yemen over the past four days. On May 30th, at 3 am, forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked Freedom Square in Taiz.

Water cannons filled with gasoline sprayed tents where protesters were sleeping. Thousands of protesters were camping in the Square since February demanding Saleh's immediate resignation. The tents were set ablaze and fleeing citizens shot by roof top snipers as they ran. Many were unable to escape the fires including the disabled and children as indicated by the photos linked below. The massive protest site was cleared after hours of carnage, with bulldozers scraping up the remains of tents and persons by the morning.

The protesters attempted to retake the square over the next days only to be shot point blank causing over one hundred additional fatalities.

MASS GRAVES

Reports are emerging that Saleh's forces again kidnapped severely wounded protesters and took corpses. The practice of body snatching was first reported in Aden February 25th.

Protesters killed by security forces were buried in a mass grave in Aden on February 27 a ranking Yemeni official confirmed today.

The grave site is on the eastern edge of the Salahu Deen military camp, near little Aden, and was first reported last week.

The official said 15 protesters were buried together in an unmarked single grave about eight meters long, speaking anonymously due to the high risk of government reprisal.

In May, Saleh's henchmen again captured critically wounded and the dead bodies dumping them in a mass grave chopped up in garbage barrels:

Sahwa Net, Sana'a- Medical sources at the Military Hospital in Sana'a have revealed that dozens of corpses of protesters who were killed by security forces were hidden by the Yemeni authorities in unknown places in an attempt to conceal evidence of crimes committed against peaceful demonstrators. The sources affirmed that the Central Security and the Republican Guard kidnapped dozens of the killed and wounded persons and escaped them. Security sources affirmed that the corpses of protesters were transferred from the Military Hospital's mortuary in framework of a security campaign to conceal evidence of murder crimes committed by security forces against peaceful protests...

A Yemeni human rights organization, Hood, revealed that dozens of protesters' bodies were taken into a cemetery at Artel area of the capital, Sana'a.

Hood further said that it received statements from medical sources saying that dozens of protesters corpses were taken to graves after the mid night on a Hilux, affirming that some residents of Artel area informed it, just after 12 hours of receiving those statements, that they found out a mass grave in which 15 bodies were buried.

HOOD, a leading and well respected human rights organization, reported that body parts were found in trash barrels in May likely of protesters disappeared in April:

Hood confirmed that it received information and testimonies written and documented about the central security forces and gunmen in civilian clothes attacking the demonstrators with live bullets, sharp weapons and poison gas on Saturday night 04/09/2011 in Zubairy Street and Ring Road, which led to the downfall of a number of dead and wounded.

Hood quoted witnesses saying that “Nearly 20 people were pulled to some personnel carriers and government vehicles transferred to an unknown destination and their injuries were at the head, neck, chest, abdomen and some of them had died.” Also, confirmed that it had received “certificates for a mass graves in the area of “ Bait Boss", body parts were found in trash barrels in that area, it is believed it belong to protesters who were arrested during the massacre of Kentucky Round in Sana’a. Attorney General has received a notification of this.”

The Saleh regime simultaneously engages in mass arrests as it steals corpses and kidnaps the wounded. Family members hope their missing relatives are "disappeared" in the dungeons of Yemeni prisons, as thousands are. Current reports indicate at least 500 were taken the night of May 30th, and it is unknown how many are dead in a mass grave.

US RESPONSE

The US is continuing to urge Saleh to accept a proposal to resign with a promise of immunity for his crimes, which he reneged on three times already. (See our earlier report: US Ambassador trapped by pro-regime mob in Yemen.) Yemen's opposition parties and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which sponsored the negotiations, have both withdrawn support for the deal. The US strongly supported Saleh since protests began as an important partner in counter-terror, and President Obama called Saleh a friend in a major speech on the Middle East in May. However Saleh's duplicity in dealing with al Qaeda is unparalleled, well documented and a clear threat to US national security.

Opposition parties and the protesters coalition have both pledged to continue cooperation with the United States in fighting al Qaeda after the fall of Saleh. Nonetheless, the policy and statements of the Obama administration remain limp and muted in the face of continuous atrocities, an inexplicable response to the millions in Yemen seeking a civil, democratic state. It is the divisions containing US trained CT units, headed by Saleh's relatives, that are engaging in horrific crimes against Yemeni citizens, often with US supplied equipment including tear gas and vehicles.

PHOTOS

A large protest in Taiz February 21st rattled the Saleh regime. Thousands camped out in Freedom Square continuously until May 30 when the square was cleared by fire and bullets.

A protest march in Taiz May 6 affirmed solidarity with protesters in southern Yemen

For photos of the citizens burnt alive, click here (strong content warning: extremely graphic and disturbing).

This video from Taiz shows Saleh's thugs shooting straight into the crowd on May 29th, hours before the square was assaulted, but doesn't show anybody being hit:

May 26, 2011

President Saleh never had any intention of stepping down and played the international community very well for three months. He drew out negotiations, and reneged three times on signing the agreement he dictated to the US and Gulf countries. Then he attacked the mediators, besieging the US ambassador on Sunday with an armed mob of ruling party loyalists. Monday Saleh began shelling the compound of his main tribal rival, Sadiq al Ahmar in Sanaa the capital.

Clashes raged for hours. Tuesday Saleh sent his negotiators to the al Ahmar home (some say with a tracking device serendipitously planted on one of them) to mediate an end to the violence that he started. Then he bombed the compound, killing his own people who were still in the home. This of course triggered more clashes between the military and defected military with tribesmen on both sides that continues today.

Saleh is now showing his true face to the world and his intention to retain power at all costs. President Saleh devastated the northern province of Saada, bombing for years (2004-2010), displacing 300,000 citizens and then blocking aid to the internal refugees. He ravaged the south and openly slaughtered hundreds of unarmed pro-independence protesters (2007-2010). He will do it to the capital Sana'a without a twinge of conscience.

After three months of nationwide pro-democracy protests, over 100 casualties mostly by head shots, and over 10,000 injuries among the unarmed protesters, yesterday President Obama finally said, as a one line throw-in during a press conference in the UK, “We call upon President Saleh to move immediately on his commitment to transfer power.”

During Obama's hour long Middle East policy speech a week ago, millions in Yemen waited as he ticked through the nations in the region, expounding on each. When he got to Yemen, Obama called Saleh his friend. Yemen also only had one line in that speech: “President Saleh needs to follow through on his commitment to transfer power.” The deal Saleh turned down afforded him immunity from prosecution and scheduled presidential elections in two months, a shoe-in for his son, Ahmed, head of the Republican Guard and the counter-terror unit.

Yemen Post: The head of office for Sadeq Ahmar, Abdul Qawi Qaisi said that more than 50 people were killed and 110 injured in last nights clashes between Hashed tribes and republican guards.

Clashes continued for more than eight hours near Sana'a International Airport and in Hasaba zone of Sana'a. The Defense Ministry announced earlier today that four more were killed yesterday evening by Hashed tribes.

Tribes in Arhab confirmed that nine tribesmen were killed in clashes between Arhab tribesmen and republican guards last night..

Update: Yemen's tribes begin to stand against Saleh, the US should get on winning side pronto.