By Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
ADEN, Yemen – Upwards of 80,000 people have reportedly fled the southern Yemeni city of Loder. The massive displaced has been caused by the government alleged battle with al Qaeda-linked militants there. The government has reported that at least thirty-three people have been killed, including eleven soldiers, three civilians, and nineteen militants with alleged links to al Qaeda. Witnesses in Loder reportedly said that the fighting intensified after Sunday night, following the expiration of an ultimatum to militants to surrender.
A security official told the AFP that Yemeni forces have recently been able to enter the city and impose control over most of it, claiming that al Qaeda elements have since fled.
Al Jazeera reports that it is difficult to independently verify reports coming out of Loder, including government claims that only gunmen are left in the embattled city, because the city is surrounded by troops.
Southern Yemen was independent from the north from 1967 until its unification with the north in 1990. There have since been efforts in south Yemen to regain independence, including a failed succession bid in 1994. According to the Examiner, Southern Yemenis began protesting three years ago in an effort to obtain equal rights, triggered by escalating state violence and arbitrary arrests. The current coalition of groups, the Southern Movement, which has a range of demands from economic and social improvements to full independence for the region, is allegedly leading the present opposition, including calls for independence. The Examiner reports that nearly seventy percent of southerners are now in favor of succeeding from the north.
Southern Yemen is also believed to have become a haven for the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the ranks of which have allegedly been filled in part by foreign fights from states such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Yemeni authorities claim that they killed AQAP’s second-in-command in Loder, along with eighteen other militants linked to AQAP.
Some opposition forces, including the prominent exiled south Yemeni leader, Ali Salem al-Baid, condemned the government’s “massacres” in the south, claiming, “The military campaign in Loder is aimed against our people’s resistance in the south,” and that the government’s claim that it is fighting al Qaeda is “an attempt to cover up the massacres committed against our people.”
Al Jazeera says that the separatist movement the government has been battling in the South may be related to the current siege. They cite Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a Sana’a-based journalist with The National newspaper, as saying, “The government is trying to use al-Qaeda as a pretext to attack movement activists who are pushing for independence for the south,” he said.
The Yemeni government fully stands by its position that it is battling elements of AQAP in Loder. The Yemeni army reportedly uncovered a large stash of weapons, including rockets and anti-tank weapons hidden in homes in the area, and the Yemeni Defence Ministry stated on its website that “Outlaw separatist elements” collaborated with al Qaeda in the clashes in Loder.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Yemeni Army Regaining Control of Southern City – 24 August 2010
Al Jazeera – Thousands Flee South Yemen City – 24 August 2010
United Press International – AQAP Leader Killed in Yemen – 24 August 2010
Examiner – Yemen Bombs Southern Town and Blames Al Qaeda, Dozens Dead and Wounded – 21 August 2010
