Southern Yemen Drowns in Assassinations, Calls for Eliminating UAE Control

YemenExtra

M.A.

The bodies behind the assassinations of preachers and imams in the southern Yemeni governorates, especially the city of Aden, are no longer mysterious to those at home nor abroad.

The Associated Press published a report regarding the wave of assassinations in the southern governorate of Aden, which indicate that a senior security official accused the UAE of being behind the incidents.

It also added that the wave of assassinations of clerics ignited a state of panic and fear in the coastal city of Aden in southern Yemen, prompting some imams of mosques to abandon the rhetoric and mosques, at the time dozens escaped the country.

The United States has joined the war as a key partner in the alliance, sent troops to southern Yemen and has established an area of influence throughout the region. The UAE has established heavily armed militias in defiance of forces loyal to Hadi, who has been in exile in Saudi Arabia for most of the past two years.

The assassinations of dozens of clerics have led to the public’s outrage toward the UAE forces as they have been controlling the southern Yemeni governorate of Aden for nearly three years.

The Associated Press considered the appearance of badges on the walls in Aden saying “down with the UAE occupation” has recently been a sign of rising public anger from the UAE.

In addition, it pointed out the joint statement issued Tuesday  from 12 parties and the political movement “the evil hands behind the assassinations of the clerics.”

One of Yemen’s ministers, appointed by Saudi-friendly Hadi in Riyadh, said the killings were “systematic” and that more than 50 clerics had left Yemen so far, fleeing to countries such as Egypt and Jordan.

“If the situation continues, we will ask the sheikhs of the mosques to stay at home and not go to mosques,”the Hadi-appointed minister said.

He also appealed for efforts to “rescue the clerics, scholars and imams” in Aden. His office warned that the killings were taking place alongside replacing clerics with extremists.

Moreover, the news agency reported the death of the Yemeni cleric Yaser al-Azzi, the imam of Omar ibn al-Khattab mosque in the port of Aden on April 4, following an assassination attempt a week ago. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings.

According to the agency, a senior security official in Aden, who requested not to be identified, accused the United Arab Emirates of organizing the killings. The Ministry of Religious Endowments in Aden provided a list of 20 corrupt clerics; five additional names were compiled from the Associated Press.