Strife in Yemen: Jihadists fight on

Yemens campaign against militants is not succeeding, despite American help

Strife in Yemen

Jan 13th 2011 | SANAA | from PRINT EDITION

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AFTER prayers on January 7th jihadists ambushed a military convoy near the town of Lawdar in the troubled province of Abyan some 240km (150 miles) south-east of Sanaa, the capital. They used rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns to kill at least ten soldiers. Later that day the group hit another military convoy in the same area. Two days after that masked men on motorcycles attacked a government vehicle on its way to deposit cash at a bank in Zinjibar, Abyans capital, killing three electricity workers and a guard.The nebulous nature of al-Qaedas Arabian franchise makes it hard to assess the groups strategy or even to be sure which attacks it is behind, unless it publishes a claim for responsibility. But recent hit-and-run attacks on government forces and the greater care it is taking to avoid civilian casualties suggest cannier tactics, with lessons learnt from the experience of al-Qaeda branches in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like them it is trying to weaken resolve by targeting the security forces on which the government depends. Many Yemeni jihadists want to overthrow the countrys secular government and replace it with an Islamist caliphate. That is unlikely to happen soon, but the threat of it has put Yemen in the international spotlight. Since a botched Christmas bombing of an American passenger jet in 2009 by a jihadist trained in Yemen and a foiled plot to plant explosives in a cargo aircraft there last October, the United States has increased military aid from $70m in 2009 to a planned $250m this year.

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Barack Obama has ruled out direct American intervention. But the country has become a testing ground for the Pentagons counter-terror methods. American-funded units are trying to tackle jihadists in their heartland, where government control is minimal, notably in the provinces of Abyan, Shabwa and Marib. But American aid is not always used for its intended purpose. In 2009 a Pentagon-trained counter-terrorism unit was diverted to Yemens north to fight Houthi rebels who are not generally jihadists. Recently it was reported that boats donated by America to Yemens coastguard were being rented out for commerce.On January 11th Americas secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, showed how worried she is about Yemen by making the first visit by a holder of her post for two decades. No doubt seeking to calm the waters after American diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks exposed details of sometimes stormy relations with President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The leaks disclosed that he had allowed American air raids against al-Qaeda in Yemen. Mrs Clinton said that the country needed more than military aid to combat al-Qaeda and stressed the urgency of economic and political reform. For Yemen is the Middle Easts poorest country, illiteracy is high and corruption rife.

from PRINT EDITION | Middle East & Africa