Date: Fri, 9 May 2014 15:35:01 +0200
Yemen FM: War against Al-Qaeda will take years
Yemeni forces celebrate reaching final AQAP stronghold in Shabwa province
Written by : <http://www.aawsat.net/author/a-abdulaziz> Aidroos Abdelaziz
on : Friday, 9 May, 2014
Sana'a, Asharq Al-Awsat-Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi said that it will
take Yemen years to completely eradicate Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP) from the country, as Yemeni military forces continue a massive
offensive against the militant group in the country's south.
In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Qirbi said that Yemen's battle against
terrorism requires an "integrated strategy," adding that this is a war that
cannot be won through military force alone. He said that Sana'a must seek to
carry out broad-ranging reforms and find solutions to unemployment and
poverty.
Qirbi affirmed that the Friends of Yemen group will release an estimated 8
billion US dollars of assistance to help Sana'a carry out a program of
military, economic and administrative reforms.
He acknowledged that Yemen's military forces need restructuring and
modernization so they can be truly representative of all of Yemen, adding
that that the Friends of Yemen had pledged to provide financial and
logistical help, particularly the UK, the US, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Yemen's military forces held a victory celebration in Shabwa Province on
Thursday to mark government forces' arrival at the cities of Huta and Azzan,
the last known strongholds of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
strongholds in the restive southern province. This comes as part of a major
southern offensive launched by Sana'a last week targeting AQAP.
"Yemeni forces have been able to resolve many of the battles in Shabwa and
Abyan, destroying Al-Qaeda camps and displacing or killing AQAP members,"
Qirbi said.
"The Yemeni army has a great responsibility to confront the terrorist
activities being carried out by AQAP, particularly in the south," he told
Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that the major southern offensive is progressing
well and enjoying broad popular support from the residents of Abyan and
Shabwa.
Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed congratulated President Abd
Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Yemen's armed forces and the general public over the
success of the southern offensive on the eleventh day of the operation.
"Yemen's armed forces will continue to pursue the remaining terrorists in
the neighboring villages and districts, and we will not allow these killers
another opportunity to harm the security of the state," state news agency
SABA quoted Ahmed as saying.
"We assure you that the military and security sources present today are here
to protect you and your security. They are your sons and it is their duty to
defend the public tranquility. This is the mission of the armed forces in
order to create the conditions that allow the implementation of the
decisions of the National Dialogue Conference," the defense minister said in
a speech to the people of Shabwa.
Fighting continued in neighboring Abyan province on Thursday, with the
government reporting that security forces had seized "large quantities of
weapons and explosives" at the home of an AQAP member in the province on
Thursday.
Sana'a launched a major security offensive against AQAP in southern Yemen on
April 28, which officials say has killed and captured a number of senior
militant leaders and forced others to flee the advancing army.
A number of foreign AQAP members have been reported killed in clashes with
government forces after president Hadi claimed that 70 percent of members of
the group are foreign nationals. Sana'a announced the deaths of three
non-Yemeni AQAP members on Wednesday, a Pakistani national, a Saudi national
and an Algerian national.
A security official told SABA that the majority of AQAP members killed in
Shabwa and Abyan provinces have been foreign nationals, particularly from
Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia and Chechnya.
Yemeni soldiers hold up their weapons at a position taken from Al-Qaeda
militants in Mayfaa, in the southeastern province of Shabwa, in this May 7,
2014 handout photo. (Reuters)
Yemeni soldiers hold up their weapons at a position taken from Al-Qaeda
militants in Mayfaa, in the southeastern province of Shabwa, in this May 7,
2014, handout photo. (Reuters)
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