Partisans of Sharia Live Blog

13 weeks 3 days ago - Yemen

Fighters in southern Yemen said they had executed three men on Sunday for giving the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area.

Residents of the towns of Jaar and Azzan said two Saudis and one Yemeni were beheaded at dawn by Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law).

A spokesperson for the group later said none of those executed were Saudi citizens, but all three had been working for the intelligence services of the kingdom, a close US ally. [Reuters]

Tags Azzan, Jaar, Partisans of Sharia
19 weeks 6 days ago - Yemen

Yemen's army killed six suspected Al-Qaeda fighters in a Katyusha rocket attack on their hideout in the restive southern city of Zinjibar, an official said on Thursday.

"The army carried out heavy shelling using Katyusha rockets on a house in Zinjibar's east where Al-Qaeda militants were gathered to plot attacks on army units... killing six," said the official in the adjacent town of Jaar.

Among the dead were a Saudi and a Algerian, said the official, adding the house in which they were hiding was completely demolished in the attack that took place late on Wednesday.

An army official meanwhile said that five soldiers were also wounded Wednesday in clashes in Zinjibar and were taken to a military hospital in the main southern city of Aden.

Nearly 270 Yemeni soldiers have been killed in the battles that began in May with fighters from the Partisans of Sharia, the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group that took over most of Zinjibar, according to an army toll.

At least 400 extremists were also killed during the same battles, according to local officials in the region.

The terror network has been able to turn 11 months of political turmoil in Yemen to its advantage, using the popular revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh to bolster its presence in southern and eastern Yemen.

Fighters linked to Al-Qaeda control several regions and towns including Zinjibar, where they clash regularly with government forces and tribal auxiliaries.

Government forces are also sometimes supported by US drone strikes in their battle against the Partisans of Sharia.  [AFP]

Tags aden, Al Qaeda, Partisans of Sharia, zinjibar
38 weeks 3 days ago - Yemen

Eleven tribesmen killed in two south Yemen suicide attacks, reports AFP. 

The overnight suicide attacks took place in the southern province of Abyan, a stronghold of al-Qaeda, tribal sources and medics told AFP on Sunday.

Tribal sources accused al-Qaeda members of carrying out the attacks in two villages of Abyan province, where Yemeni tribesmen and the army have been battling militants from the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) who are believed to be close to the al-Qaeda network.

Tags Abyan province, Al-Qaeda, civilians killed, Partisans of Sharia, suicide attack, tribesmen, Yemeni
39 weeks 6 days ago - Yemen

AFP reports that four suspected al-Qaeda members have been killed by army fire outside the southern city of Zinjibar, most of which has fallen under the control of Islamist fighters, a local official said on Thursday.

The suspects were killed when their positions were hit by army shells in the villages of Al-Khamla and Bajdar outside Zinjibar, the capital of the lawless Abyan province, the official told AFP requesting anonymity.

Fierce clashes erupted Wednesday between the army's 25th Mechanised Brigade and Islamist fighters who are said to be members of the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)," witnesses said.

Hundreds of armed men belonging to the Al-Qaeda-linked group took control of most of Zinjibar in late May and laid siege to base of the 25th Mechanised Brigade.

On August 1, officials claimed that 15 suspected members of Al-Qaeda were killed in army raids in and around Zinjibar.

Tags 25th Mechanised Brigade, abyan, Al-Khamla, Bajdar, Partisans of Sharia, zinjibar
42 weeks 5 days ago - Yemen

The AFP news agency reports that two Yemeni soldiers have been killed and four others wounded in clashes with suspected al-Qaeda fighters near Zinjibar, the capital of the southern province of Abyan, a military source said Friday.

And tribal sources said armed tribespeople had killed one al-Qaeda member and wounded another at the entrance of Mudiyah, about 80km (49 miles) east of Zinjibar.

A military source said "two soldiers were killed and four wounded in clashes centred on the entrance to Zinjibar Thursday night between the army and al-Qaeda fighters," a toll confirmed by medical sources.

Other military sources told AFP sporadic clashes had occurred from Thursday into Friday as the army attempted to enter Zinjibar, much of which has been held by suspected al-Qaeda-linked fighters since May.

The tribal sources said the al-Qaeda members were shot when they refused to stop at a checkpoint set up by tribespeople opposed to to the group.

Many members of Abyan tribes have had close ties to Al-Qaeda in the past, but have turned against the militant group after gunmen belonging to the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)," a group suspected of links to al-Qaeda, seized Zinjibar in May.

Battles in the town between the fighters and Yemeni security forces has displaced thousands of residents.

A military source and medics said on Thursday that Ayad al-Shabwani, a leader of Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and 10 soldiers had been killed during fighting in south Yemen this week.

And Deputy Information Minister Abdo al-Janadi said the United States had provided logistical support to the 25th Mechanised Brigade, which was besieged by militants in Zinjibar from late May.

Tags 25th Mechanised Brigade, Abdo al-Janadi, abyan, Arabian Peninsula, Ayad al-Shabwani, Mudiyah, Partisans of Sharia, United States, zinjibar
43 weeks 1 day ago - Yemen

AFP reports that a suspected leader of Al-Qaeda in the Abyan province in south Yemen has been killed by the army, a government official said on Tuesday.

The killing comes as tribespeople across the province began expelling the fighters.

Hassan Basonbol, who went under the alias Abu Issa, was killed in fighting with the army on Monday in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, where security forces have battled people with suspected Al-Qaeda links since May, the official said.

Meanwhile, armed tribespeople were able to expel suspected Al-Qaeda fighters from the town of Shaqra, tribal leader Mohammed Sakin Jaadani said.

The tribespeople were able to regain control of the police station in Shaqra, a clinic and a local government building, all without a fight, he said.

In the town of Wadia, police chief Abdullah Nasser said that armed men from his tribe were able to "expel Al-Qaeda elements," also without clashes.

However, suspected Al-Qaeda elements remained in the town of Loder, despite an order from tribal chiefs for them to leave the city, which was made during a meeting at the house of Sheikh Nasser al-Oudali, one of the tribal leaders.

According to residents, the fighters ignored the call and remained in the town, despite checkpoints set up by young people at the initiative of the tribal leaders.

Fighters from the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)", which is believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, remain in Zinjibar, and the area of Jaar to its north.

In a statement obtained by AFP on Tuesday, the Partisans of Sharia warned the tribes against the "risks of a plot pushing them to face" its fighters.

The tribes in the province, many of which had close ties with Al-Qaeda in the past, began turning against the organisation after thousands of Zinjibar residents were forced out when the fighters sought to seize the town.

Tags Abu Issa, Al-Qaeda, Hassan Basonbol, Jaar, Mohammed Sakin Jaadani, Partisans of Sharia, Shaqra, zinjibar
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