Related to the USS Cole bombing.. New details of terrorist deaths in Abyan

The Security Belt Forces in Abyan Governorate, South Yemen, revealed information, which they said proves the involvement of members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in fighting alongside the Yemeni government forces controlled by the (Islamic) Islah Party, on the Abyan fronts, against the southern forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council. Some of them have direct links to the figures accused of the bombing of the USS COLE.

This came one day after the killing of a leader in the Al-Qaeda organization, Ali Ahmed Al-Qisma, during the attack launched by government forces on the positions of the southern forces in the Shokra and Al-Tariya fronts, in Abyan, on Friday morning.

According to the moral guidance of the Security Belt Forces in Abyan, on Saturday, Al- Qisma was studied by Mohammad Dramah, known as Abu Al-Bishr (the Sharia Mufti) of terrorist groups in the Arabian Peninsula and one of the accused in the bombing of the USS COLE destroyer, off the coast of Aden in 2000.

In early 2011, when Al-Qaeda took control of Abyan, Al-Qisma was arrested at the Popular Committees point in Shokra, accompanied by 7 other members of the organization while they were riding in a bus.

The man and his companions "were handed over by the Popular Committees to the then Yemeni Minister of Defense, Mohammad Nasser Ahmed, and the Ministry of Defense handed him over to the Political Security Agency until the beginning of 2015, when he was released among other armed groups." The statement said.

According to the statement, after the events of August 2019, Al-Qisma moved within armed groups from Al-Qaeda to the Third Presidential Protection Brigade, accompanied by Haitham Al-Zamaki, brother of the commander of the brigade, "Luay Al-Zamaki."

The Security Belt indicated that Al-Qisma "coordinated between terrorist groups and government forces," as part of a deal to fight the STC's forces, in exchange for their support with money and weapons, within the brigade's forces.

Previously, local and security reports accused the participation of hundreds of al-Qaeda and ISIS militants from the Al-Bayda and Marib governorates, in northern Yemen, as part of the government forces in Abyan.

The Security Belt published a list of the names of ten people it said were prominent members of the extremist organizations fighting in the ranks of the forces of the Third Brigade Presidential Protection, two of them were killed earlier, and another leader was arrested, "Mustafa Mahdi."

The Security Belt said that these elements received financial, logistical and military support from the army leadership, under the direction of Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

South24 could not independently verify some of this information. But the Third Brigade Presidential Protection, had previously ridiculed similar accusations, but did not deny them, while government forces did not officially comment on this information.

The fighting between government forces, controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, and southern forces loyal to the STC, was renewed this week, following a meeting, described as positive, that included Yemeni President Hadi and the STC's President , Major General Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, in Riyadh.

Local and field sources told South24 that the two prominent members of the government forces, Haitham Al-Zamki and Ahmed Al-Qisma, suspected of belonging to AQAP, were killed and others in the confrontations, on freiday, while some soldiers of southern forces were killed and wounded, including the commander of a company.