Violence grows despite transition moving toward democracy
[SANA’A] – Positive efforts by Yemen’s transition government to emerge from decades of autocratic rule by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh are being overshadowed by an image of lawlessness as the security condition continues to worsen in most areas of the country.
In 2011, a popular uprising ended with a deal brokered by Saudi Arabia and the GCC that saw Saleh step down after 33-years, handing the reins of government to his vice president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi in an interim capacity. Hadi, in turn, created the National Dialogue – an assembly of 565 Yemeni citizens from across the political and cultural divide charged with formulating a new system of government and constitution. But while the future appeared to brighten, the present security system began to show cracks.
Some opine that the security weakness grew because of the political transition of power. One such voice, Abdulsalam Mohammed, chairman of Abaad Studies & Research Center, explained that, “We should take into account that there are parties and figures that lost their interests after the transition and they are trying to obstruct the peaceful transition of power and to provide logistical support directly and indirectly to the violent groups to reshuffle cards.”
One case-in-point is the growing strength of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the regional franchise of the global terrorist network. AQAP had virtually taken control of the southern Abyan Province by March 2011, only a month after the revolution got under way. The terrorist group continued to increase in strength, attacking the Defense Ministry complex in December 2012 and killing 52 people while doing so in what was to be the bloodiest attack in the past three years. The same period was marked by assassinations, abductions and other acts of terrorism.
Colonel Ali Mohammed, an officer in the Interior Ministry operations room, told The Media Line that while security breaches occurred under Saleh’s rule, they have intensified dramatically since President Hadi assumed power. Sectarian strife was rampant in the northern part of Yemen as clashes between the Shi'ite Muslim Houthis and ultra-conservative Salafis. But since the turnover, the situations in both the north and south have deteriorated.
In the south, factions of the secessionist movement, known as Hirak, have raged in protests and civil disobedience and have every so often boycotted the talks, demanding greater autonomy as a solution to the southern issue. Recently, the south has become even more restive as clashes between armed tribesmen and Hirak factions have increased dramatically.
Moreover, since 2013, more than 90 intelligence and army senior officials had been shot dead in drive-by shootings while others have narrowly escaped deadly attacks for which the government routinely blames Al-Qa’ida. The capital Sana’a has been the scene of the assassinations of government officials and delegates to the National Dialogue Conference. Military sociologist and analyst Dr. Mohsen Khusruf told the Media Line that “The army is being subjected to frequent attempts so as to be penetrated by armed militias.”
Nearly a dozen foreigners and Yemeni businessmen have been abducted since 2013, the most recent of which was a British teacher who was reported missing on February 12 after being taken in downtown Sana’a while on his way to work according to a security official. The fates of many kidnap victims remain unknown.
In mid-February, Sana’a’s Central Prison was stormed in an attack using a car bomb and gunfire that resulted in the escape of 29 prisoners, some of whom are senior Al-Qa’ida operatives.
Beyond the issue of spreading violence, the event named “The Great Escape” by a local newspaper, has also spurred accusations – including among Western diplomats – that government officials were complacent in the break-out.
Mohammed, of Abaad Studies & Research Center, argues that the attack on the prison is tied to attempts to assassinate Hadi. “No group could ever carry out such an operation without assistance from the state; otherwise intelligence apparatus is being penetrated,” he said.