According to Yemeni state media, at least 40 militants were killed over the past two days in a series of government strikes in southern Yemen, with much of the violence in the Abyan Province.
The government has escalated the number of air strikes in the province, but reports suggest that the attacks aren’t altogether accurate, with one strike mistakenly hitting the house of a top MP, killing four of his cousins.
And indeed, despite the escalation the region seems to be falling more and more out of the regime’s control, with another military base reportedly surrounded by militants. The army brigade trapped within has reportedly pushed for aid.
The loss of southwestern Yemeni towns has been so quick that it has spawned claims from the opposition that the Saleh government deliberately lost the region in an attempt to convince overseas supporters that he needed support to protect the regime from al-Qaeda. The group which took the region, Ansar al-Sharif, is said to be linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Government strikes, eh? Which government, Yemen or the US?
And what is the evidence that AQAP exists, other then the creation of Yemeni and Saudi regimes? Many analysts claim that it was only one Saudi intelligence asset that "started' the group, and the name has been banded about by the regime. The only reason they are repeatedly hitting the Abya province in the South, is that they believe it to be the key battleground if the regime has any chance of controlling the South. The mountains of Yemen provide for only several transportation routes. It is really a loosing proposition for both US and Saudi Arabia to keep the regime in power. They both cannot keep the act up — pretending to be with the revolution, while arming and supplying regime and helping them crush the rebellion. The problems with the forcibly annexed south are not new, or the rebellion of Shia tribes in the north. But the rebellion in Sana'a, Taiz and Hodeida — that is entirely new situation. For that reason, beating up on South will not solve anything, only create additional problems. One only has to understand where the wealthiest families in Saudi Arabia come from, to get the idea of the extent of the problem.