Shabwa and Hadramout: UAE-Saudi takeover conflict exposed
SHABWA, May 20 (YPA) – The Yemeni street is holding its breath due to the dangerous developments in the Yemeni arena on Saturday, following a video footage released by al-Qaeda showing a drone squadron that it owned from Saudi-led coalition, as well as Al-Zubaidi’s statements in Hadramout about the upcoming secession state under the name of the state of Hadramout.
Observers and those interested in the Yemeni affairs see these developments as a radical change in the course of the war strategy waged by the coalition countries on Yemen, in order to achieve its colonial agenda, which its military machine failed to achieve during the past eight years.
Al-Qaeda in Shabwa
Today, Saturday, Yemen’s northeastern Shabwa province was a new scene for the emergence of al-Qaeda, as the group launched drone strikes targeting the positions of Emirati-backed armed factions in the oil-rich province.
Al-Qaeda organization carried out on Saturday a military parade with drones in the sky of Shabwah province, eastern Yemen, in a move that carried a message, in terms of timing, to the UAE-affiliated factions there.
The organization’s websites published videos and pictures of Al-Qaeda members pursuing the UAE-backed “Shabwah Defense” patrols in Al-Musaiyna’ district, the most prominent stronghold of the organization.
The pictures show that the organization carried out air strikes targeting Emirati armored vehicles while they were trying to flee.
This is the first time that the organization displays this type of weapon, and it is a step that reveals that the organization, as one of the Saudi-affiliated factions, has obtained drones.
The organization also confirmed that its elements were deployed in the vicinity of the city of Ataq, the capital of the governorate, and in the districts of Al-Sa’eed and Al-Hatib, in reference to the start of a new conflict and bloody confrontations between the organization and armed factions loyal to the UAE.
It has intensified its military operations during the past months, against the Emirati factions in many districts, whether by armed ambushes or explosive devices, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of officers and recruits.
These developments came after statements by the organization’s leader, Khaled Batarfi, on May 3, in which he praised the Islah Party’s anti-UAE stances and attacks in Abyan, Hadramout and Shabwa, threatening the UAE and its armed militias with revenge attacks in response to Operation “Siham al-Sharq” that targeted Islah militants and ISIS elements in Abyan and Shabwa governorates.
It is not yet clear the reasons for the new emergence of al-Qaeda in Shabwa, and whether it is part of the existing Saudi arrangements to launch an attack on the Emirati factions in Shabwa, in response to the UAE’s efforts to incursion into Hadramawt governorate, as well as in light of Abu Dhabi and its local tools, accusing the coalition of supporting and coordinating with Islah and al-Qaeda to fight a joint battle in Shabwa.
Al-Qaeda and the Cover of Coalition
Khaled Batarfi, leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), announced in a video broadcast on May 3 that they would continue fighting against Sanaa forces on the fronts of Marib, Shabwa and Taiz, even if the coalition forces abandoned them.
He criticized the UAE’s withdrawal from fighting in Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s agreement with the National Salvation Government in Sanaa.
His latest admission came after previous statements that the terrorist organization’s elements participated in fighting within the ranks of the coalition forces on 16 fronts inside Yemen.
In an operation described by observers and military experts as an open “farce”, in early December 2022, pro-coalition and international media reported that al-Qaeda elements had received drones coming from Saudi Arabia.
A Comedy Play
The reports, which were confirmed by local sources in Hadramout, announced that the terrorist organization had seized a truck loaded with a number of drones following an armed ambush on the international road linking Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which also reaches Marib province in the Al-Abr region.
However, observers and military experts ridiculed the reports, asserting that the drones were delivered by the coalition to the al-Qaeda through the back door in a farcical and absurd manner.
E.M