About 70% of the inhabitants of Jaar town have returned to their homes after the army drove Al-Qaeda cut-throats out of the town and other strongholds in the southern 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...
province, deputy governor of Abyan province, Ahmed Al-Rahawi, said on Saturday.
I'm starting to think the Paks should hire the the Yemenis to clean out their Wazoos. But that would mean the Paks were serious about it.
The 26 Sept website quoted the official as saying the return started immediately after the authorities restored all basic services in the town and its suburbs coinciding with securing all roads leading to Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan.
Al-Qaeda seized Zinjibar and the strategic town of Jaar and declared them Islamic emirates in mid-2011, but the armed forces with direct support from the US and tribal fighters cleared the cut-throats from all parts in Abyan.
Hundreds of cut-throats including big shots were killed in the offensive, which has been continued in nearby provinces, mainly Shabwa, to have a militancy-free Yemen.
Al-Rahawi said other citizens have been unable to return to their homes because of landmines, which were planted by cut-throats inside homes, farms and deserted areas, according to the website.
On Friday, Abyan governor, Jamal Al-Aqil, said technical teams from GCC countries have arrived in Yemen to help remove all landmines in Abyan. "The GCC help comes because removing the mines and helping the people return are top priorities," he said.
Tens of people have been killed in landmine kabooms in the past few weeks, just as they started to return to and check their properties, triggering calls on the displaced not to rush back for now.
Al-Rahawi said the inhabitants of Zinjibar have been warned not to return until the authorities remove thousands of landmines in the capital, pointing out that a committee was formed to count those who were killed and went missing when Al-Qaeda seized the towns.
More than 270,000 people fled Abyan during the war on Al-Qaeda to Aden and nearby provinces.