Shabwa elite forces purge al-Saeed of al-Qaeda

Now that Shabwa province's al-Saeed directorate has been purged of all remaining al-Qaeda elements, local authorities can focus their attention on improving living conditions, Yemeni officials told Al-Mashareq.

Shabwa elite forces backed by the Arab coalition on January 10th succeeded in purging al-Saeed district, including the Yashbum valley, in south-east Yemen, of all al-Qaeda remnants, arresting a number of the group's leaders.

"The elite forces were able to purge al-Saeed district of all presence of al-Qaeda terrorist elements," said Shabwa elite forces commander Khalid al-Athmi.

These elements posed a threat to the security and stability of al-Saeed district and to Shabwa and neighbouring provinces, he told Al-Mashareq.

The elite forces arrested senior al-Qaeda leaders, including al-Qaeda's emir in Yashbum, Fahd Atef, and his assistant, al-Athmi said.

Atef, the brother of slain al-Qaeda Shabwa emir Saad Atef, had been in charge of recruitment for the group's Yashbum branch, he said.

"The elite forces imposed measures to maintain security and stability in the district and all the way through other areas to the provincial capital of Ataq," al-Athmi said.

A covert al-Qaeda presence

"Al-Qaeda elements were present in [al-Saeed] directorate, but covertly, and their numbers are limited," said Sheikh Abu Bakr Fareed al-Awlaki, director general of Shabwa's al-Saeed directorate.

Some al-Qaeda elements were natives of local villages, he told Al-Mashareq, noting that this is the case in any area where terrorist elements are present.

Al-Awlaki described the military crackdown as a "purge operation" rather than a "liberation", as al-Qaeda had no control in the area and its presence was covert.

Local authorities have been working to strengthen security, implement development projects, and inoculate youth against extremist ideology, he said.

"We are seeking to strengthen the security, and we have organised and assembled general security forces in the district under the command of the Ministry of Interior," he noted.

Local authorities have overseen this work, despite the lack of critical resources that prevented them from performing these duties to the fullest, he added.

There have been ongoing efforts to raise awareness against extremism, al-Awlaki said, but these efforts have intensified in recent weeks.

"Social awareness efforts were not limited to preachers and orators at mosques and in schools, as social dignitaries also have taken part in them," he said.

Province-wide development plan

"The directorate is doing its utmost to find solutions to unemployment and to advance education, but the situation in the country in general does not help," al-Awlaki said.

The situation in Yemen is preventing the local authority from achieving its desired objectives, he said, though the authority is seeking to "establish development in all service-related areas" through the support of donors.

"We have a province-wide [development] plan and not only a district-wide plan," Shabwa province official Mohammed Saleh bin Adyou told Al-Mashareq.

The province’s executive office has reviewed and approved this plan, he said.

"Additionally, conceptualisations and studies have been prepared for development projects in the fields of electricity, water, health and education, roads, sanitation and reconstruction," he said.

A plan that addresses the rehabilitation of buildings and facilities destroyed in the war has been submitted to Yemen's Council of Ministers, he said, "and we are still waiting for funding".