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Qaeda Assassinates Yemeni Senior Security Commander in Abyan

Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council travel in convoy in Abyan province (AFP)
Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council travel in convoy in Abyan province (AFP)
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Qaeda Assassinates Yemeni Senior Security Commander in Abyan

Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council travel in convoy in Abyan province (AFP)
Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council travel in convoy in Abyan province (AFP)

A high-ranking security commander and his companions were assassinated in the Mudiyah district in the Abyan governorate in a suspected al-Qaeda attack.

The roadside bomb detonated while the convoy was passing near the village, days after the launch of a new campaign targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists.

Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that an explosive device targeted the convoy of the commander of the Security Belt Forces in Abyan, Abdullatif al-Sayyid, killing him along with about five of his companions, including a tribal leader.

The convoy was en route to an area with regular clashes with Qaeda fighters.

Sayyid survived several previous attempts to assassinate him ordered by al-Qaeda members, who see him as one of their most essential enemies because of the war he waged against them years ago in Abyan. He headed the Security Belt Forces, tasked with protecting southern regions of Yemen.

Abyan is a hotbed for extremists such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Security sources accused the organization's members of the operation after launching a new campaign to pursue the organization's terrorists in Wadi Omran.

Sayyid survived several assassination attempts since he joined the government forces against Qaeda in the governorate. In 2021, Qaeda terrorists managed to infiltrate a funeral of one of Sayyid's relatives. They put explosives in drinking water bottles, killing dozens.

In recent days, Qaeda has carried out several attacks against the security forces using improvised explosive devices and ambushes.

Meanwhile, the Deputy head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, mourned Sayyid and his companions, saying it was a significant loss for Yemen.

Member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Abdul Rahman al-Mahrami, described the deceased as an exceptional leader and a courageous fighter, leading the soldiers on the battlefronts to defend the homeland.

Mahrami also announced that Sayyid fought in various battlefronts in Abyan and led major offensives against extremists.

Furthermore, Qaeda freed Akam Sofyol Anam, a Bangladeshi citizen working for the UN, after a year and a half abduction in Yemen.

He was released after mediation led by tribal leaders in Abyan, where he was kidnapped with four Yemenis on their way to Aden, the interim capital.

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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.