American website: The defeats of the "Brotherhood" in northern Yemen prompted them to fight a wrong battle in the south
English - Saturday 18 September 2021 الساعة 05:11 pm
NewsYemen, translations:
An American website said that the movements of gunmen loyal to the Islah party, the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the town of Shuqra in the Abyan governorate (southern Yemen), have impeded the stabilization operations in the southern governorates since the signing of the Riyadh Agreement.
The American Fair Observer website said, in a recent report, that the conflict raged between the Islah party and the Southern Transitional Council, amid demonstrations blaming the Brotherhood for the deterioration of security, the collapse of the local currency, and the increasing gains of the Houthis.
He added that the Houthis had made progress against pro-government forces in Al-Bayda governorate, while fighters loyal to the Hadi government had moved to Abyan and Shabwah governorates, adding to the instability in areas where government forces allied with President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party are facing opposition. fierce southern security forces.
He stated that southerners fear the movements of al-Qaeda militants from al-Bayda to places such as Mudiyah in the north of Abyan governorate, as well as to the southwest of Shabwah.
He pointed out that these moves raised the alarm for the southern forces, including the Security Belt units in Abyan, which fought the Houthis with the pro-government forces.
The report said that the Southern Transitional Council, which is part of Hadi's government today, believes that the movement of forces from Al-Bayda and Marib to Abyan or Shabwa violates the 2019 Riyadh Agreement and the 2020 agreement to form a coalition government.
He continued, "The uncoordinated mobilization of forces under these agreements poses a threat to a more comprehensive agreement sponsored by Saudi Arabia to focus on the fight against the Houthis in the northern regions."
He stressed that the influx of militants into areas such as Mudiya and Abyan and the new attacks on state security officials in places such as Buraiqa in Aden are worrying southerners. The latter see that the conflict is expanding beyond clashes with military and tribal forces in Abyan loyal to President Hadi and forces under the supervision of Vice President Ali Mohsen and affiliated with Islah.
Chaos and secure haven
The report said that the forces loyal to Islah have strengthened their presence around the oil fields in Asilan, north of Shabwa. They are also desperately trying to take control of the Balhaf LNG facility, which is currently protected by the Shabwani Elite Forces loyal to the STC forces.
While the southern issue of autonomy remains excluded from the UN-led peace talks - the report says - the Saudi-led coalition recognizes the Southern Transitional Council as the legitimate representative of southerners and the allied forces tasked with securing the southern territories "under the supervision of the coalition".
He pointed out that the mobilization of government forces loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood in Abyan and Shabwah as a result of their defeats in Al-Bayda and Marib led to an escalation of tensions with the Security Belt forces, further destabilizing these fragile areas.
The withdrawal of government forces from Marib to northern Shabwah - some of which were deployed to protect the oil infrastructure - is now seen as aimed at strengthening Islah's presence and securing a safe haven in the event the city of Marib falls into the hands of the Houthis.
The southern forces wondered why the government forces had withdrawn to Shabwa while the Houthis were advancing through Murad and now the Rahba area.
Links between Al-Qaeda and government forces
While the report indicated that al-Qaeda is responsible for a number of operations against the Security Belt units, it said that the organization has not yet announced its operations along the western coast of Shaqra (the scene of the deployment of forces loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood and Ali Mohsen), without confirming specific links between al-Qaeda fighters and government forces.
In recent months, Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a number of operations against the Houthis in Al-Bayda and the southern forces in Abyan and Aden.
British expert and doctor Elizabeth Kendall of Oxford University described the current manifestations of al-Qaeda as active, committed, realistic and fake. The origin and intent of the "fake" faction is what worries southerners, who see it as a tool for misdirection in the battle to secure sanctuary for groups like Islah, according to the report.
This is primarily due to the fact that many of the operations not claimed by al-Qaeda targeted southern forces in areas of confrontation with government forces affiliated with Islah.
The US website concluded by saying that the timing of the movements of al-Qaeda fighters through Abyan and Shabwa, along with the increased operations since the death of the head of counter-terrorism, Munir al-Yafei in 2019, adds credence to claims that the goal is to create chaos and cause the collapse of the Riyadh Agreement.
