Yemen: Mujahideen enter capital of Lahj province. Fightings intensify in Abyan

2 September 2011

The Mujahideen of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are prepared to liberate another province in the south, Lahj. That was claimed by local high-ranking puppet officials, reports the Yemen Post.

According to them, several large units of Mujahideen from neighboring Abyan have recently entered Lahj. In the ongoing battles in the Emirate of Abyan, al-Qaeda regrouped its forces and directed them to neighboring provinces.

On the streets of the town of Howtah, the provincial capital of Lahj, there were dozens of Islamic fighters last Friday. According to the CNN, at least 100 Mujahideen of al-Qaeda were present there.

However, the provincial puppets are in no hurry to offer any resistance to AQAP:

"We have not received orders from the government to arrest any suspects, but the interior ministry is focusing on this issue with great concern", said a provincial official.

In turn, residents of the province confirmed that representatives of the regime do not hinder the movement of forces of al-Qaeda to Lahj. Among the residents, there are rumors that the "administration" of the province is preparing for a major exodus, as it was in Abyan.

It is to be recalled that government officials of the Saleh's regime, along with its security and military forces, left the Islamic Emirate of Abyan, for fear of bloody fightings with the al-Qaeda Mujahideen, who had been already for some time on the outskirts of Zinjibar.

Such a scenario could happen again. Earlier, the Mujahideen stormed the capital of Lahj, the town of Howtah.

Then the Islamic fighters took control over several administrative buildings and a radio station. However, they left the town later, for tactical reasons.

The situation for the puppet regime in this province is complicated by the fact that most people of Lahj defected and joined protesters against Saleh.

Meanwhile, a complicated situation, as claimed by western media, is also formed on the outskirts of Zinjibar, the capital of the Islamic Emirate of Abyan.

France-Presse reported, with reference to the Yemeni puppet security forces, that the Saleh's military regime allegedly seized the main approaches to the city and are heading to the center.

During a large-scale offensive, the apostates from the 201st and 209th brigades managed to join the 25th mechanized brigade, which had been besieged for months by the Mujahideen.

The Saleh's military command said that the army had occupied a football stadium, Al-Wahda, earlier liberated by the Mujahideen. However, the claims of the puppets and Western media reports were not confirmed by independent sources.

Severe battles are taking place for the town. Minions are facing strong resistance from the Mujahideen. As a result of the fighting, about 15 Mujahideen martyred, a source claimed to AFP. In this war, the puppets exaggerated the number of martyred Mujahideen exactly 2 times, claiming that 30 Mujahideen had martyred (Insha'Allah). The puppets gave no information about their own fatalities.

It is to be recalled that according to the opinion of doctors working in hospitals in Abyan, the Saleh's regime routinely exaggerates the number of casualties among the Mujahideen.

For example, recently, representatives of the puppet police stated that during the fighting in the Islamic Emirate of Abyan in May alone, up to 300 Mujahideen martyred. The puppets claimed their own fatalities as only 183 soldiers.

However, the experts say that these figures are unreliable. Thus, an expert and political scientist Ali Al-Jarad indicates the discrepancy between the figures that are periodically released by the structures of the puppet regime.

Thus, in February, a so-called "foreign minister" Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said that "just a couple of hundred fighters of al-Qaeda" remain in Yemen.

"If we take in consideration what the "foreign minister" said earlier this year and what the "interior ministry" announced ... there are supposedly no more al Qaeda fighters in Yemen", the expert said.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/09/02/15055.shtml.