[Yemen Post] Just as the international community has come together in its support of Yemen as it closed an important chapter of its transition of power, state officials have revealed that al-Qaeda attempted last week to take over the southern province of al-Baydha, in a move which could have well plunged the country into utter chaos.Still fractured, both socially and politically, and its economy barely functioning, Yemen sits at a very sensitive crossroads. Should Islamic bully boyz be allowed to take advantage of the impoverished nation's current weakness, the entire region would stand to fall prey to terror.
In a statement published this Thursday, Yemen Interior Ministry explained that al-Qaeda bully boyz attempted to seize several buildings in the southern province of al-Baydha, ahead of a broader regional take over, in a move resembling that which the group ran in Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an
Islamic Emirateafter seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
back in 2012.
As Yemenis erupted into the streets in 2012 to demand social and political reforms, emboldened by revolutionary movements in Egypt and Tunisia, al-Qaeda bully boyz exploited the power vacuum by seizing large swathes of lands in Abyan. Islamists even managed to claim control over Zinjibar and Jaar, two cities in Abyan.
Although President Abdo Rabbo Mansour successfully drove all Islamists out of the province, backed by the military and local tribes, al-Qaeda bully boyz never completely disappeared, instead they returned to the shadows, waiting for their next opportunity.
Following to years of killing and kidnapping, it seems the terror group feels ready to move to the offensive again, further proof that Islamists are more dangerous than officials have led the public to believe.