Yemen Liberates Territory from Al-Qaeda, Exposes Saudi Support

Saree confirmed that Yemeni forces attacked al-Qaeda and Daesh elements, liberating about 1 thousand kilometers. Additionally, Yemeni forces destroyed 12 camps and military bases during the military operation in the Wald Rabi area. Yemeni forces also reportedly seized large quantities of weapons, including hundreds of belts and explosive devices, during the operation.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for Yemen's forces.

Initially, al-Qaeda took control of Qaifah’s rugged areas. Later, the terror group seized control over several neighboring areas, subjecting inhabitants to intimidation, threats, and murder. Daesh also held control of territory bordering the same area which served as a stronghold to practice the same criminal practices against the population.

Daesh and al-Qaeda have yet to face any serious challenges or threats from Saudi-backed invaders and supporters of the exiled Hadi government. On the contrary, the terrorist organizations have turned into a pillar of the former regime in the liquidation of opponents.

Security archives indicate an increase in Daesh and al-Qaeda operations starting in 2015 at the onset of the war.

Yemen’s latest operations to cleanse territory of al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS) elements have exposed the link between Saudi Arabia, their allies like the US, and terror groups.

Yemeni forces wipe out Al-Qaeda elements

More than 1,000 foreign and local fighters, including high-ranking leaders, were killed or captured in the operation. Many of the group’s leaders were involved in the killings and executions of civilians in Syria and Iraq. At least 200 surrendered to the army forces on the condition that their identities not be revealed to their home countries.

A Yemeni security source revealed the details of a specific security operation in Bayda province that led to the killing of the leader of Daesh (ISIS) in Yemen, Radwan Mohammed Hussein Qanan (also known as Abu Al-Walid Al-Adani) along with several leaders of the criminal organization.

Exposing Saudi Arabia’s support for Al-Qaeda and Daesh

The Sana’a-based National Salvation Government — which mainstream media wrongfully refers to simply as “the Houthis” — has compelling evidence proving Saudi Arabia supports to these terror groups. International media channels and agencies have also documented the sloppy link between Saudi Arabia, al-Qaeda, and Daesh.

Yemeni military media released video footage detailing a military operation against the largest stronghold of AQAP and Daesh in Qaifah, Walad Rabi, and Al-Qurashyah areas.

According to the military media, Yemeni forces discovered factories and manufacturing workshops for producing explosive belts for AQAP and ISIS terrorist elements.

The footage and photographs depict Yemen’s Army and Popular Committees finding modern US-made M47 Dragon missiles and M2 Browning machine guns, typically only used by the Gulf Kingdoms and Israeli armies.

Footage also documented modern and sophisticated US weapons, cameras, and aerial surveillance tools as well as aid bags from the World Food Programme (WFP).

Documents detail coordination between the terrorist organizations and the US-Saudi coalition against Yemen, extensive support to takfiri terrorist groups, and even missiles with the logo of Saudi Arabia on them.

These scenes highlight the extent of preparation from Daesh and al-Qaeda, their massive combat fortification, and the air support they received from coalition airstrikes.

Several tents with the inscription “Saudi Arabia” were found as was a Riyadh Central Hospital healthcare card carried by terrorist Naji Ahmad Deifallah.

Moreover, Yemeni forces found a huge amount of Saudi money under the so-called name of “guests of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Program.”

Although Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied its support for terrorism in Yemen’s occupied provinces, its disagreement with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) has prompted the latter to reveal the significant support that Saudi Arabia provides to terrorist leaders.

Sources loyal to the STC leaked a document revealing coordination between the commander of the Saudi-led aggression forces in Aden, Brigadier General Mujahid al-Otaibi. Al-Otaibi told all military checkpoints in Aden, Abyan, Shabwah, and Ma’rib provinces to allow prominent al-Qaeda leader Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki through. Commander of the so-called General Transport Brigade for Hadi’s Presidential Guard, Amjad Khalid al-Qahtani, joined Otaibi.

This document comes after Yemen’s Army and Popular Committees revealed pictures showing Saudi support for al-Qaeda and Daesh elements in Bayda province.

Al-Qaeda terrorists confess to their crimes

Security media in the national salvation government released video footage shows several members of al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS) who were captured in Bayda front, drop their confessions.

The confessions of an al-Qaeda and Daesh member in Aden, Jamal Abdulsalam Mohammed Abdullah Herrarah, confirmed that he participated in raids on two exchange shops in Aden.

He said al-Qaeda elements trained him and transferred him to the Qaifah front to confront the army and popular committees.

Another Daesh operative arrested in the Bayda Front, Abdulaziz Mohammed Saeed Ballaith, from Mukalla, revealed that he was brought from Saudi Arabia by Abu Nasser to the so-called jihad with the Islamic State.

Ahmed Nasser Omar Bazzuhair, yet another Daesh operative, said he was recruited from Saudi Arabia and lured to fight with the group in Yemen, noting that the group’s operatives moved its fighters across Yemen.

According to the confessions of al-Qaeda and Daesh members, they were involved in targeting Yemeni Army vehicles and troops in Bayda with several improvised explosive devices.

Al-Qaeda and Daesh members have been hit hard by Yemen’s Army and Popular Committees in Qaifa areas.

Heinous crimes committed by Al-Qaeda terrorists

Since the beginning of the war on Yemen, Saudi Arabia with help from its ally UAE has turned Yemen into a fertile breeding ground for al-Qaeda and Daesh. Terrorist camps have spread across the occupied Yemeni provinces and terrorists have been sighted fighting side by side with Saudi forces and mercenaries.

In March 2020, terrorist elements committed a heinous crime by intercepting a car carrying a family. They killed the head of the family, his wife, and their only child in the Dhahra area of al-Qurashiyah district.

A month later, al-Qaeda killed six troops from al-Abdali as they moved towards the front lines to support the Army and Popular Committees against the forces of aggression.

Then in May, al-Qaeda operatives targeted a car carrying engineers of the Ministry of Communications, killing the engineers and injuring one other person. The MoC said that its engineers were directly targeted with a remote explosive device while returning from their work in maintaining the telephone and internet networks in the Rabat area.

Most recently in August, Al-Qaeda terrorist elements executed and crucified a doctor in the al-Sawma’ah district of Bayda province, local sources said.

According to the sources, Al-Qaeda gunmen executed Dr. Mutahar al-Yousfi after accusing him of spying. Al-Qaeda also blew up the Al-Sawma’ah Medical Center, east of al-Bayda governorate.

Sources confirmed that terrorist militias planted a large number of explosive devices in the building, detonating them from a distance.

Emad al-Marshahi
Freelance journalist from Yemen. English editor at Yemen Press Agency & Al-Thawra Net.