21 Yemeni Soldiers Killed in Suspected Qaeda Attack

Yemeni military personnel are pictured during their redeployment from the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, Yemen December 14, 2020. (Reuters)
Yemeni military personnel are pictured during their redeployment from the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, Yemen December 14, 2020. (Reuters)
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21 Yemeni Soldiers Killed in Suspected Qaeda Attack

Yemeni military personnel are pictured during their redeployment from the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, Yemen December 14, 2020. (Reuters)
Yemeni military personnel are pictured during their redeployment from the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, Yemen December 14, 2020. (Reuters)

Suspected al-Qarda militants on Tuesday attacked a security post in southern Yemen, sparking clashes that killed at least 21 troops and six militants, military officials said.

The early morning attack in Ahwar, in the province of Abyan, targeted a post manned by troops from the Security Belt security force.

The officials said at least 21 troops were killed in the attack and the clashes that ensued for hours. Four more troops were also wounded, they said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

Among the dead troops was Yasser Nasser Shaea, a senior commander in the force fighting terror groups in Yemen, the Security Belt said in a statement.

It said six militants were killed and others were detained. It posted images showing bodies it said were the dead militants.

No group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.

AQAP has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch, and has attempted to carry out attacks on the US mainland.

AQAP, along with an affiliate of the ISIS group, are active in several regions of Yemen and have taken advantage of the yearslong war to make inroads.

Mohammed al-Ghaithi, head of the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission that is affiliated with the Presidential Leadership Council, said peace will not prevail in Yemen without the defeat of terrorism.

In a tweet, he stressed the importance of intensifying regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.

The legitimate government alleges that the Iran-backed Houthi militias, which control northern parts of the country, cooperate with terrorist groups in order to destabilize the liberated region.

In previous statements, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani had accused the Houthis of releasing several terrorists from jail after their takeover of the capital, Sanaa.

Among the released were prominent al-Qaeda members.

In November 2018, the militias freed 20 terrorists, including 14 al-Qaeda and four ISIS members, said the minister.

Yemeni journalist Mahmoud al-Taher tied Tuesday’s attack to the deployment of Security Belt members in several regions in Abyan.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attack took place as al-Qaeda openly threatened the PLC and Saudi Arabia.

He revealed that the terrorists and Houthis had struck deals and understandings to lead to hamper the mission of the PLC and lead to its failure.

Tuesday’s developments are the beginning of an attempt to rattle the PLC, warned Taher.

Moreover, he added that the Houthis and al-Qaeda often turn to each other whenever Yemeni parties appear to be on the way to uniting and agreement.

This has become common knowledge in Yemen, said Taher.



Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.