Who is killing Aden’s clerics? The Washington Post Gives Answers…

YemenExtra

Shefa’a Abdullah

The Washington Post reported that the UAE and its former militias were behind the assassination of clerics and mosque imams in Aden, especially those whom calling for Yemeni unity and rejecting calls for secession supported by Abu Dhabi.

“These crimes are still a mystery; despite the speculation, no group has claimed responsibility for the killings, none of the perpetrators has been arrested so far,” the report said.

The assassinations, which are taking place in southern capital city of Aden, are occurring in areas where the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council operates in an effort to form an independent state which directly opposes internationally backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

All the clerics were killed by “drive-by shootings or killed near their mosques” according to the Washington Post. As a survival strategy, the clerics have either fled Aden city, or restricted working hours in the mosques.

The killings of clerics in Aden are linked to the power struggle between US allies there, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“Although the two countries have entered the war in Yemen against the Houthis within a single alliance, both have different visions for the future of Yemen,” the report added.

“This is a carefully thought-through and orchestrated campaign,” said Peter Salisbury, a Yemen analyst with the International Crisis Group. “The people who are being targeted are outside the new mainstream in the south, which is pro-secession.”

Last month, the Yemeni Ministry of Endowments called on the competent security authorities in the city of Aden to stand firmly against the assassination and acts of terrorism practiced against the city’s clerics, Muslim scholars and imams.

The assassinations have had a horrific effect on Aden’s mosques, with some 120 clerics reportedly fleeing, some mosques closed and some stopped praying for dawn, fearing death, while others were forced to use bodyguards.