Yemeni government forces assisted by US drones have been carrying out attacks on Al-Qaeda fighters in the country before a Friends of Yemen meeting next week, writes Nasser Arrabyee in Sanaa Yemeni government troops supported by local tribesmen and US drones nearly defeated Al-Qaeda forces in the south of the country this week after an unprecedented month-long military campaign. The Yemeni flag was raised on Tuesday on the Yasof Mountain, which overlooks the southern town of Lawdar, one of the most important strongholds of Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Six Al-Qaeda operatives, four tribesmen and two soldiers were killed in the operation, which was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as Al-Qaeda was concerned in Lawdar. The defeat was recognised by Al-Qaeda, which said that it had made a tactical withdrawal after it ran out of ammunition. At least four escaping fighters were arrested on the same day in the neighbouring province of Al-Baidha, according to security sources. This unprecedented campaign against Al-Qaeda in Yemen comes before the so-called "Friends of Yemen" group meets in the Saudi capital Riyadh on 23 May. The biggest concern of the Friends, mainly Americans, Europeans, and Gulf countries, is the terrorism campaign being run in Yemen by Al-Qaeda. Yemen says it needs at least $10 billion to restart its economy after the year-long unrest. The Friends of Yemen group has said that it will not be in a position to pay any money before Al-Qaeda is defeated. The government troops are now fewer than eight km away from Jaar, the oldest Al-Qaeda stronghold in the southern province of Abyan. Late on Tuesday, air strikes killed at least 12 in an attack on a house where Al-Qaeda operatives were staying. Before the strikes, helicopters dropped leaflets telling civilians to stay away from the area, government sources said. However, local sources said that only five Al-Qaeda operatives had been killed in the first air strike, the rest of those killed being civilians who had come to rescue the Al-Qaeda fighters. "The strike was on the house of Al-Mansouri, where Al-Qaeda operatives usually meet, and it killed all five who were in the house," said Mansour, a local resident. "When local people saw the house being destroyed, they went to help, but then there was another air strike that killed seven of them." More than 100,000 people were displaced from Jaar and nearby Zinjubar after the two towns were declared Islamic emirates early last year, the majority of them fleeing to Aden and staying in poor humanitarian conditions. Zinjubar, the capital of Abyan, is now surrounded from all directions. "We expect to take control of Jaar and Zinjubar over the coming 24 hours, and we will then declare Abyan to be free of Al-Qaeda," said military sources. "Al-Qaeda fighters have tried to escape from Jaar and Zinjubar to Shabwah, and from Lawdar [also in Abyan] to Al-Baidha, but government troops and security agents will follow them," the sources said. US drones and military and security experts are participating in the on-going campaign. Advisor to US President Barack Obama on counter- terrorism John Brennan paid a one-day visit earlier this week to Yemen, where he met newly elected president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who said the eradication of Al-Qaeda from the country was "irreversible". Meanwhile, suicide bombers in Sanaa set off a car bomb in the capital in retaliation for the US drone attacks. Yemeni security forces are now searching for another suicide bomber who has already entered Sanaa where he intends to blow himself up, the Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday. In a statement published on its website, the ministry said that the suicide bomber, Abdallah Jabir Al-Shabwani, was now in Sanaa and that he intended to set off a bomb in a Jeep land-cruiser. The would-be suicide bomber is originally from the Abeidah tribe in Mareb province. Al-Shabwani may be intending to take revenge for the deaths of 16 Al-Qaeda fighters killed earlier this week in two different attacks on three cars in Mareb by US drones. Most of those killed were from Mareb, especially the Abeidah tribe. On Saturday, US drones attacked the cars, laden with Al-Qaeda operatives, in two different places in the eastern province of Mareb. Six operatives were killed in the first car, which was hit in the area of Husoon Al-Jalal in Wadi Abeidah in Mareb. Those killed in the strike were identified as Mohsen Abdel-Rahman Al-Yosufi, Saleh Mohamed Jabir Al-Shabwani, Abu Mutab Al-Yamani, and Abul-Laith Al-Hudhrami, in addition to two Saudi nationals who were not identified. In the second attack, which happened about one hour later in the area of Muksarah between Huraib in Mareb and Baihan in Shabwah, a total of 10 people were killed in two cars. They were identified as Ali Hassan Ali Gharaib Al-Shabwani from the Abeidah tribe in Mareb, Hassan Suod Hassan Bin Mueli, also from the Abeidah tribe, Hamid Nasser Al-Akraa from the Jedaan tribe in Mareb, Mohsen Said Kharasan, also from the Jedaan tribe, Ahmed Saleh Mohamed Al-Fakeer from the Murad tribe in Mareb, Mohamed Saleh Bakir Al-Fakeer, also from the Murad tribe, Abdallah Ali Mohamed Al-Kuti from the Abeidah tribe, Aref Aisi Shabwi from Shabwah, Mubarak Saleh Al-Nasiri, also from Shabwah, and Abu Obaidah Al-Masri, an Egyptian national.
