Violence is continuing to soar in the Abyan Province of southern Yemen today, with the two day toll of a battle over a Yemeni government military base now over 140 dead, with at least 110 of them soldiers loyal to new Yemeni ruler Major General Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The fighting began yesterday when forces initially termed by the military as “al-Qaeda” but now revealed to have been from the Ansar al-Sharia faction attacked a military base outside of provincial capital Zinjibar.
Ansar al-Sharia fighters are said to be celebrating in Zinjibar tonight, and say that in addition to the soldiers killed they have captured 70 others. A number of captives were paraded through the city earlier today.
Ansar al-Sharia has been holding Zinjibar and most of the rest of the province since early last Summer, and repeated military offensives have failed to unseat them. Echoing repeated promises of a military victory by his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Hadi has promised to take revenge on the fighters in the region.
Well, now we know (in case there were doubts before) what those American troops are doing in Yemeni soil.
Let the South Yemen go free, and the problem solved. The problem is, its perceived "strategic' location by the West, is making it impossible — so the carnage will go on. If only West could get over the 19th century notions of controlling some rocks where we "think" stategic things might happen, so much of the world's misery would be solved. We no longer live in the times of foot soldiers, and do not need "strategic" land-spots. With missile technology, these are utterly irrelevant. "South Yemen" was called Hadramouth before British were ousted from Aden, and communists took over. They should have their own country. And then, we should let people of Yemen, the confederation of tribes in Sana'a decide what is best for Yemen. Forcing this unnatural entity to survive, is costing US too much money and prestige, and people there too many lives and shattered prospects.