Lahj Province - March 1,2011

watch the imact of the furious shooting in AlHabelain city in Lahj province - Feb25,2011

Rally in the Al-Habilayn area, Lahj Province to support of young people in Aden - Feb 17,2011

Two Soldiers kidnapped in Lahj

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

At least two soldiers were kidnapped by armed men belonging to Southern Movement in Radfan, Lahj.

The two soldiers, who were kidnapped on Thursday from military headquarters, were taken to Habeel Gaber district, sources told media outlets.

In return, tribal sources told the Yemen Post that armed group belonging to Anes tribe kidnapped four citizens from Lahj in response to the kidnapping of the two soldiers in which one of them belonged to Anes tribe.

Yesterday, unidentified armed men in Lahj province intercepted a vehicle at the entrance of Habeleen district on its way to the military headquarters in the province, stealing three million Yemeni rials, ($15000).

Last week, three civilians were injured in Radfan, Lahj, after forces randomly shelled the town following firing on a military vehicle by unknown armed people.

Tens of houses were damaged and families fled the town due to the deteriorating situation, amid an acute fuel shortage and lack of phone services.

Military reinforcements have been deployed to Radfan in recent months to fight separatist militants who have stepped up their attacks, targeting military posts and public property.

Lahj is one of the southern cities hit by violence where the separatist movement, Al-Harak, continues the anti-government protests that usually turn violent.

Source: http://bit.ly/gwVmwP

Three wounded in south Yemen clashes

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Three people were wounded on Wednesday in clashes in the south Yemen town of Habilayn, witnesses and medical sources said, while the interior ministry said three soldiers had been kidnapped there.

Clashes broke out when security forces tried to set up a military site west of the town, witnesses said, adding that three people were wounded.

Medical sources confirmed that the three were taken to the nearby Radfan Hospital, and that one had been transferred to Aden because of the seriousness of his injuries.

Separately, the interior ministry said three soldiers had been kidnapped in Habilayn at the end of January by "outlaw elements" in the Lahij province town.

One one person believed involved in the kidnappings had been arrested.

An official from the Southern Movement, whose members want either independence or increased autonomy for Yemen's south, said on January 18 that southern Yemeni rebels had seized three soldiers on the outskirts of Habilayn.

Tensions were high at the time in the southern movement stronghold, where medics and military sources said on January 17 that one woman had been killed and 11 other people, including seven civilians, wounded in recent clashes.

South Yemen was independent from 1967, when Britain withdrew from Aden, until the region united with the north in 1990.

The south attempted to secede in 1994, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended with it being overrun by northern troops.

The region, where many residents complain of discrimination in the distribution of resources by the Sanaa government, is the site of frequent protests and periodic violence.

Source:http://yhoo.it/h0HWG7

Al Khabji Praises the People's Resistance in Radfan

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

The Southern Movement organized peaceful demonstrations and processions in several southern Yemeni cities on the weekly "Southern Prisoner's Day," which is launched every Thursday in order to demand the release of Southern Movement activists.

Students demonstrated in Dees-Alsharkia in Hadrmout, blocking a main road in the city and chanting against the Yemeni central government, what caused security forces to suppress the students.

As well, the city of Shehr in Hadrmout witnessed another student demonstration in which the students also blocked the streets using burning tires and rocks to hinder the movement of the security patrols.

Sources in the Southern Movement mentioned that the security suppressed a demonstration organized by women in Shuheir town, in Ghil Bawazeer district of Hadrmout.

Four other demonstrations were launched in Abyan; in Rusud, Mahfed, Je'ar, and a central demonstration in Lawder. Speakers in Lawder's demonstration expressed their solidarity with the people of Radfan, "who are under a military and supply siege."

The traffic in a main road links Aden with the Yemeni capital Sana'a was paralyzed when a massive demonstration, followed by a procession, staged in the southern Yemeni city of Habilyn, in Lahej province. People raised in it flags of South Yemen and banners demand "the self-determination."

The demonstration was attended by many southern leaders, including the prominent leader of the movement, Nasser Al Khbaji, who praised the militants named "the people's resistance," who abort the Yemeni army's attempts to breaking in the city for weeks, while he hinted at "using other ways instead of the peaceful ways," he said.

Source: http://bit.ly/fZFdau

Day of Rage Burns 33 Southern Yemeni Districts with Protests

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

On Jan 18, 2011 Security force suppressed a student demonstration organized by a number of school boys in the city of Shahr in Hadrmout, to censure the arrest of their director who was arrested, on Monday for refusing to submit the names of students participating in demonstrations in of the Southern Movement.

Students chanted slogans of solidarity with the director of school and raised banners of solidarity with person wounded on Monday in a demonstration in the city, and others condemning the military actions carried out by the Yemeni army in the areas Radfan of the southern Yemeni province of Lahej in order to control it.

The protest was later suppressed by security forces, and turned to hit and run.

Reportedly, a person was seriously injured in his back, caused by random live ammunitions by the Yemeni security.

Al-Mukalla, center of Hadrmout province, also witnessed clashes between the security, while the commercial activity stopped in the neighborhoods of Mukalla, Dees, and Sharj.

In Shuheir town in the district of Ghail Bawazir (40 miles northeast of Mukalla) a joint march of women and youth was suppressed by security forces fired live bullets towards, injuring the activist Ali Bin Shuhna, a leader in the Peaceful Movement of Youth and Student. Sources in the Southern Movement said that the injurity is in his head, while he has been succored to hospital.

In the city of Ghail Bawazir, angry protesters burned the headquarters of the General People's Congress in the district.

In Shabwah, the Southern Movement organized 7 different demonstrations in the province, in Jardan, Haban, Musaina'a, Khura, Bihan, Nisab, and Azan.

A number of Southern Movement activists in Shabwah, declared collective resignations from the Yemeni Socialist Party, calling the rest of the activists to abandon the party memberships.

In the province of Abyan the Southern Movement staged a demonstration of anger in Shukra, in addition to a rally procession in Jaar, while the participants raised green flags and the former flags of South Yemen, and banners condemning the military siege on the Radfan and the killing of an elderly woman in Hadramout last Thursday.

People of Al Mahfed in Abyan launched a massive march raising banners condemning the events of Radfan and Hadramout, and the militarization of the southern cities.

Speakers expressed their unlimited solidarity with the people of Radfan against the military and supply siege which is implemented by the Yemeni army at the entrances to the city of Habilyn, the major city of Radfan districts, province of Lahej.

Al Wdie also witnessed a massive demonstration attended by several Southern Movement leaders.

Center of Lahej province, al Houta, witnessed acts of violence and clashes between protesters and the security, that used live ammunitions and tear gas to suppress the protesters who blocked the main roads with burning tires.

Tur-Albaha, Halimin, and Habilyn as well witnessed other angry demonstrations, in which the chanted against the central government demanding the restoration of the former state in southern Yemen.

A huge march was staged in Al Dhalie, attended by several Southern Movement leaders including Shalal Ali Shaie and others.

The demonstrations today come after a joint call by the two southern leaders, Ali Salem Al Beidh, and Hassan Ahmed Ba'oum, to stage "a day of rage." In southern Yemen to censure the military operations in Radfan.

Nightly protests were staged in Aden, the former capital of South Yemen, in the districts of Al Mansoora, Al Areesh, Khormaksar, Twahi, and Al Bureikh, some of them were quelled by security.

Hadrmout also witnessed nightly protests in several districts, including Shehr, Mukalla, Qutun, and Al Hami, some of them were also quelled as well as Aden's.

Source: http://bit.ly/heUKH6

Yemeni Army Quells Protest in Habilyn Wounding 10

Observed By: Mr. Alaa Isam

On Jan 16, 2011 At least ten people were injured this morning in Radfan in the southern Yemeni province of Lahej when Yemeni army forces fired live ammunitions from various weapons on a peaceful protest rally organized to denounce the blockade imposed by the army on the area of Radfan since mid-December last year, as well as the indiscriminate shelling that caused the damage of several houses in the villages of Radfan.

Some of the wounded are:

1- Muhtam Saleh Khasim.

2- Arif Mohammed Al Sahibi.

3- Mohammed Muhssein Nasser.

4- Akeel Thabet Jaber.

5- Rhadwan Fhadel Ahmed.

6- Bassam Mohammed Mukbil.

7- Mohammed Ahmed Arif Al Nassri.

The wounded have been taken to the hospital while some of them were in serious conditions.

Media sources in the city assured the participation of the prominent leader of the Southern Movement, Hassan Ahmed Ba'oum, including Nasser Al Khabaji who declared resignation from the Yemeni Socialist Party as a respond to a call made by Ba'oum to avoid dualism of parties.

Militants had forced the Yemeni army to leave the city of al-Habilyn after violent clashes continued till the early morning.

Source: http://bit.ly/f82Ctk

Protests in Abyan Express Solidarity with Hadrmout and Lahej

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

On Jan 15, 2011 Two protests were organized in al-Mahfed and al-Ayn districts of Abyan province in southern Yemen to protest against the last events in the provinces of Lahej and Hadrmout.

The protests were organized in conjunction with the protesting schedule in the districts, those include protests on Saturdays.

Protesters raised flags of the former South Yemen in addition to green flags were asked to be raised in the protests by the former South Yemeni president, Ali Salem al-Beidh, who lives in exile. While speeches of several southern leaders censured the events that caused death and injuries in both Lahej and Hadrmout

In Lahej, the Yemeni army continued shelling the mountains overlooking the city of al-Habilyn, where militants become known as "the people's resistance," gathering in order to halt the attempts of the Yemeni army to enter the city, considered one of the Southern Movement's stronghold.

Shelling the mountains around the city continued today, while it was concentrated on Jamal Mountain that is near to the city, while a state of panic spread in the city, causing school girls to faint, what caused students from the Faculty of Education to launch a spontaneous march procession, wandering around the city and chanting against the shelling

The communications are still suspended in the districts of Radfan, while it is believed that the Yemeni government is trying to take control over the strongholds of the Southern Movement in order to set up the anticipated elections in them.

And in Hadrmout province, the protests continued for the third day in al-Mukalla, center of Hadrmout province, where a funeral procession was launch to burry an elderly woman killed by a security patrol in the city, on Thursday. The funeral was followed by violent clashes between the security and the citizens

And in al-Hami town in al-Sher district other protests were organized for the same purpose. The protesters blocked the streets with tires and rocks, and the security tried to suppress the angry crowds, arresting a number of people among them: Fahd Khamis Koni, Mohammed Omer Bin Irua, and Asad Awad Saad, according to Southern Movement sources.

Yesterday the coastal cities of Hadrmout witnessed angry protests about the murder of the elderly lady, while a state of tension is lived in the province.

Source: http://bit.ly/hcOqEK

Demonstrations in 12 Southern Yemeni Cities on the Day of Reconciliation and Forgiveness

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Southern Yemenis protested in 12 cities and towns in order to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the reconciliation and forgiveness launched in 2006, in the twentieth anniversary of the bloody events of January 13, 1986, in which the two wings in the former ruling party in southern Yemen, the Socialist Party, struggled each other causing the death of thousands of people after provincial alignments.

In al-Mukala district, center of Hadrmout province, an elderly woman was killed when she was hit by a security patrol in the city, while she was demonstrating with several other women and young people.

Reportedly, a person was shot in his leg and another woman was seized by the neck by a Yemeni soldier when she chanted slogans against the Yemeni unity.

According to sources in the city of al-Mukalla, a state of tension is lived in the city till the moment, while soldiers were deployed in the city in anticipation for any protests against about the death of the elderly woman.

In al-Shr city (60 miles east of Mukalla), security forces dispersed a student demonstration, this morning, launched by school boys to revive the memory of the reconciliation and forgiveness, chanting the usual slogans of the Southern Movement that demand an independent state, and raising flags of the former state of South Yemen.

The demonstration turned into a hit and run between the security and the students, who hurled stones on the security patrols. However no casualties recorded among the students.

To the west of Hadrout, in Shabwah province, different demonstrations were staged, the biggest of them were in the districts of Nisab and Mayfa'a, where many Southern Movement leaders attended to participate in the demonstrations and to renew the "principles of the reconciliation and forgiveness."

It was noticeable the participation of school boys and secondary schools who raised flags of former South Yemen.

Two other demonstrations were staged in Khora and Azan areas of the same province. Both of the demonstrations were attended by Southern Movement leaders, who bid the people "to stick to the reconciliation and forgiveness," and "to continue the peaceful struggle."

Sheikh Lahmar Bin Ali Lasuad in Azan's demonstration attacked the Yemeni opposition, represented by the Joint Meeting, saying that "the Joint Meeting comes out from the womb of the GPC," he said, adding "there is a tight relationship between them, and whatever happens, they will never live apart."

In Abyan province to the west of Shabwah, southerners staged at least five demonstrations in Shukra, al-Mahfed, Je'ar, Rusud, and the largest one of them was in Lawder, the largest city in the central region of Abyan.

The demonstration was attended by several Southern Movement leaders, including leaders from outside the province of Abyan.

Lahej province witnessed two demonstrations, the first was staged in Tur al-Baha, and the second in al-Habilyn, the largest city of Radfan area that has a main road links the city of Aden with Sana'a, the Yemeni capital.

In al-Habilayn's demonstration, the participants gathered in the arena known as "the Martyrs Square," raising flags of South Yemen and banners with statements glorifying the principle of reconciliation and forgiveness, and invite the people of the south to establish the high value of its principles, in addition to others condemning the shelling and the blockade imposed by the Yemeni military forces on the cities of Radfan and its villages, and cutting off communications and prevention of the entry of food supplies, gas, and pharmaceutical industries to the region since last Saturday.

Source:http://bit.ly/hH4Z0z

Yemen, EU discuss health development project in Lahj

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

[17/January/2011]

LAHJ, Jan.17 (Saba) - Lahj Governor Muhsen Ali al-Naqib held Monday talks with an official at the European Union Delegation to Yemen on supporting the health development project and ways to develop work in this area.

The meeting also evaluated achievements within the project in the last period including recommendations for this project to continue and to benefit from it to serve the people in the province.

Al Naqib reviewed various activities that were implemented in the province according to the plans of the health development council.

For his part, the EU diplomat praised the Lahj health development programme, stressing the importance of its continuity and benefiting from it. He also urged to implement such programme in other provinces as he praised efforts exerted by the province authorities.

SA/FR
Saba

Source: http://bit.ly/er5dGm

Four Yemeni soldiers killed in southern attack

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Armed militants killed four Yemeni soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in the south of the Arab country on Saturday, a local official said, a day after 12 soldiers were killed in a suspected al Qaeda ambush.

Six of the assailants were wounded in the clash which took place in the southern province of Lahj, the official told Reuters.

Eight soldiers were injured on Saturday when their vehicle came under fire in the southern city of Lawdar, the site of Friday's suspected al Qaeda ambush which killed 12 soldiers, another local official said.

Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent wing of al Qaeda that has stepped up attacks on Western and regional targets in the poor Arabian Peninsula state, a neighbour of oil giant Saudi Arabia.

Yemen also faces growing separatist militancy in the south while it tries to maintain a shaky truce with Shi'ite rebels in the north.

The country is a focus of Western security concerns after two U.S.-bound parcel bombs were intercepted in Britain and Dubai in October, a plot claimed by al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Source: http://yhoo.it/erUEvT

Protests in 9 Southern Yemeni cities on the Southern Prisoner's Day

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

9 southern Yemeni cities witnessed protest demonstrations on the "Southern Prisoner's Day," December 30, 2010 which is marked on Thursdays in conjunction with the protesting schedule to protest against the detention of the most prominent Southern Movement leader, Hassan Ahmed Ba'oum, and his colleagues in prison in Ibb (northern Yemen) who have declared an open hunger strike on Monday.

The Southern Movement activist, brigadier Ali al-Sheibah, demanded the release of the Southern Movement activists prisoners among them the prominent leader, Hassan Ba'oum in addition to all the protesting movement's prisoners.

Al-Sheibah condemned, in the demonstration that is staged in Lauder district in Abyan province, the military reinforcements in the southern provinces of Lahej and Abyan.

Abyan province also witnessed three other demonstrations in Shukra, al-Mahfed, and Je'ar districts.

The district of Zanzibar, center of Abyan province, witnessed high security measures yesterday, after kidnapping western engineers and releasing them after several hours by tribal militants. According to sources inside the city that a state of anger has been aroused among the citizens when units of the Central Security searched in purses of female students after the school day.

Al-Aram, in Shabwah province, also witnessed a similar protest in which flags of former South Yemen, banners against the Yemeni unity and photographs of the former president, Ali Salem al-Beidh were raised.

In Hadrmout province, tens of students protested in al-Shehr district after their school day, raising flags of the former South Yemen, and blocking the streets of the city to hinder the movement of the security forces, while no reports talked about any clashes with the Yemeni soldiers who had been already deployed in the city.

Al-Habilyn, in Lahej province, a procession was rallied by hundreds of Southern Movement supporters raising flags of the former South Yemen and photographs of its former president, Ali Salem al-Beidh, who lives in exile, and demanding the release of Hassan Ba'oum and all the Southern Movement captives.

Al-Dhali province, on the other hand, witnessed another protest attended by several Southern Movement leaders among them Shalal Ali Shaei, who is accused on the issue of al-Wehda Sports Club bombings in Aden, months ago.

Source: http://bit.ly/dNIutv

South Yemen militants say northerners seized

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Southern Yemeni secessionist militants have kidnapped an intelligence major and three other northerners in Lahij province, activists said on Thursday.

The officer and the three civilians were taken hostage in the al-Mussaymir area in retaliation for the authorities' hunt for southern activist Abdullah Raweh, several activists in the opposition group told AFP.

A local security official confirmed that three civilians had been abducted, but denied that an officer was also seized.

He also confirmed that the security forces were hunting for Raweh.

Gunmen from the Southern Movement, which spearheads opposition to the Sanaa government, have been behind several recent kidnappings of northerners, in retaliation for the arrest of southern activists.

A communique distributed in the Lahij town of Habilayn last month and signed by the so-called Brigades of Arab South Freemen threatened to escalate retaliatory kidnappings.

Yemeni authorities on Saturday freed Hassan Baoum, the main leader of the southern opposition movement, two months after his arrest and after he was hospitalised following a four-day hunger strike, according to his son.

South Yemen was independent from the 1967 British withdrawal from Aden until the region united with the north in 1990.

The south seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended with it being overrun by northern troops.

Source: http://yhoo.it/eB6oy2

Yemeni Army Resumes Bombing Habilyn

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

The Yemeni army has resumed its indiscriminate bombing on the major city of Radfan area al-Habilyn, in the southern province of Lahej on Dec 28, 2010; focused on the mountains surrounding the city, while fragments caused some damages to some houses and educational institutions, including al-Zahri School for girls that is close to a military sector.

The bombardment caused a state of panic for the students of the school that caused some students to faint.

In the neighboring province of al-Dhali, a warplane flew at low altitude, bombing the mountains around the city of Dhali and the near towns.

Theses developments come after an attempt by the Yemeni army to break in the city of al-Habilyn yesterday, that was faced by local militants, in addition to great military reinforcements at the southern entrance of city that witnesses instable situation after the assassination of a Southern Movement activist and a number of Yemeni soldiers kidnaps.

Source: http://bit.ly/e1ZDlx

Protesters Demand Political Prisoners' release

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday in Lahj province in the south of the country to demand the release of the detainees arrested in the wake of the Southern Movement acts.

The demonstration was planned by the Southern Movement senior leaders to follow a series of protests sparked by the arrest of Hassan Baoum, who remains in custody at an unknown location, activist of the southern movement who spoke in anonymity told the Yemen Post.

He also said that troops posted in the town of Lahj, north of Aden, opened fire on demonstrators carrying flags of the formerly independent south , Last month, hundreds of the Southern Movement affiliates gathered for a demonstration in Aden, coinciding with the opening of the 20th Gulf Cup football tournament.

Regional analysts believe that Yemen’s unrest was due to an old crisis that had been increasing due to political oversights by the government.

Source: http://bit.ly/g7ojuF

55 persons been arrested in Aden

Observed by : Mr. Alaa Isam

families in Lahj Province have been talked to Southern movement leaders about the hiding of their men when they came to Aden city November 30^th 2010.

Furthermore, the local security in Aden has arrested so many people as result of their fear from Southern movement supporters to make protest march; the Southern movement has called to it on the occasion of November 30^th 2010 which the Independent day for Southern from Britain Colony 1967 for the period of 129 years.

The Southern Movement confirmed that local security of Aden city arrested about 100 persons in Jails of Aden.

To get their names in Arabic, please open the source link http://bit.ly/fwf094

Detainees Go on Hunger Strike Protesting About Repulsive Situation

Observed by: Mr. Alaa Isam

Detainees in Saber Criminal Search prison in the southern Yemeni province of Lahej have gone on hunger strike to protest about the "arbitrary arrests," the treatment, and the situation that was described as "inhumane," on Monday November, 29^th, 2010.

The strikers have been arrested on November 24, they are: professor Hussein al-Akil, the activists Wadah and Fhadel al-Nakhbi, Saleh Bin Saleh, Mahmoud Mohammed Saleh, Wadah al-Halimi, and Arif al-Halimi.

Human rights sources said that the detainees are suffering inhumane conditions in a small cell filled with detainees on criminal cases and in unsanitary conditions where different insects contention the detainees in their cell, which sewage leaks out from outside, as described by the sources.

The sources added that the prosecution ordered for the release of the detainees, yesterday, but the prison administration refuses to implement the prosecution's directions.

Source: http://bit.ly/hRB9XC