Al-Houthi and Al-Qaeda..years of joint terrorism
English - Wednesday 01 June 2022 الساعة 09:14 am
Aden, NewsYemen, Muhammad Yahya:
The Houthi coup against power in 2014 provided an opportunity for al-Qaeda to rearrange its ranks, taking advantage of that coup to ally with the Iranian arm in Yemen, and carry out terrorist operations with its support and direction.
In 2016, the relationship between the two terrorist organizations “Al-Houthi and Al-Qaeda” culminated in the release of the leading al-Qaeda explosives expert, Muhammad Ayedh al-Harazi, known to be close to the organization’s leader at the time, Nasser al-Wuhayshi. Suddenly, as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Al-Qaeda and the Houthi militia, he was later killed in an American raid in Al-Bayda Governorate.
Between 2022-2016, the Houthis released more than 400 Al-Qaeda detainees who were in the prisons of the Political and National Security Apparatus, pending terrorist cases, and many of them were sentenced by the Criminal Court specialized in combating terrorism, including leaders of different levels. The most prominent of those released is the leader Jamal Al-Badawi, accused of participating in the targeting of the US destroyer "Cole" in 2000, and he was killed in 2018 in an American raid in Marib.
Al-Qaeda has devoted its terrorist operations backed by the Houthi militia targeting the liberated areas, specifically the southern governorates. In October 2021, terrorist elements from Al-Qaeda led by the terrorists Muhammad Ahmed Yahya Al-Maisari and Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Mashdali Al-Baydani, financed and directed by the Houthi militia, carried out a terrorist attack The convoy of the governor of Aden and the Minister of Agriculture was targeted in the Hajif area of the Tawahi district, killing five people, while terrorist elements led by the terrorist Saleh Wadih Saleh Al-Haddad carried out an explosion targeting a number of civilians near the gate of Aden Airport in the Khormaksar district, which left five dead and more than 30 wounded. The terrorist elements who carried out the two operations were arrested and they confessed that the Houthi militia was involved in the planning and planning of the two terrorist operations.
The two operations coincided with the Houthis honoring the leader of Al-Qaeda, Arif Saleh Ali Majali (Abu Laith Al-Sanani), and awarding him the "Arab Tribe Medal", in recognition of "his role in mobilizing many fighters from the organization and bringing them into the ranks of the Houthi militia." Aref Majali, who was appointed by the Houthis as deputy governor of Sanaa, is considered one of the most dangerous leaders of al-Qaeda. He participated in the implementation of a number of terrorist operations, including the bombing of the French oil tanker (Limberg) in the port of Mukalla in 2002, and in attacking security points. He is also one of 23 members of the organization had managed to escape while they were being held in the Political Security prison in Sana'a, and he is the brother of two of the organization's leaders, and the son-in-law of a prominent leader in the organization's ranks, Fawaz al-Rubaie, one of the main suspects in the bombing of the US destroyer "USS Cole", who was killed In a security operation in 2006.
It is no longer a secret that the suspicious relationship between the two terrorist organizations "Al-Houthi and Al-Qaeda", which was revealed by the joint terrorist operations, which showed the extent of coordination between the two terrorist organizations, to impede and obstruct the Yemeni alignment, since the formation of the Presidential Command Council and the attempt to destabilize security and stability by targeting the liberated areas.
In mid-May 2022, the Yemeni government accused the Houthi militia and al-Qaeda of trying to assassinate Brigadier General Saleh Ali Hassan al-Yafei, head of operations for the fourth region in the capital, Aden, with a car bomb that targeted his convoy.
A few days before that, an al-Qaeda cell led by the two leaders of the organization, Salim and Saleh al-Masn, carried out an attack in Al-Dhalea Governorate, targeting the headquarters of the "Security Belt Forces", which resulted in the killing of the commander of the belt forces in the province, Walid Al Dami, and the commander of the counter-terrorism forces, the commander of the "Sixth Resistance Brigade" Muhammad Al-Shobaji. .
Since its coup against power in 2014, the Houthi militia and Al-Qaeda have concluded a number of service agreements and joint cooperation, and the militia has strengthened its ranks with many Al-Qaeda members who have been in state prisons since the years before the war.
The Houthis provided a safe haven for al-Qaeda elements in al-Bayda governorate, and the Houthi militia sought to coordinate with al-Qaeda elements in al-Bayda to open a new front towards the governorates of Shabwa and Abyan and encircle the south. Al-Bayda Governorate, Brigadier General Musa Al-Mashdali, late 2021 in the city of Aden.
The leader of Al-Qaeda, Nayef Al-Awaj, is mobilizing fighters from the organization to support the Houthis, based on coordination between the organization and leaders of the Houthi militia in the so-called “Preventive Security” device. To compensate for its losses on the fronts, after many tribes refused to provide them with more fighters, against the background of the return of large numbers of dead tribesmen.
A number of al-Qaeda members in the ranks of the Houthi militia were killed during the confrontations between the army and the Houthis, and recently, the leader of the "Al-Qaeda" organization, Hamza Muhammad Ali Rawiya, was killed while participating with the Houthi militia in the fierce battles south of Marib Governorate, and confessions made by prisoners of war were revealed. The organization represents the alliance and coordination between the Houthi militia and Al-Qaeda, which is an extension of the two parties’ relationship with the Iranian regime.
