Yemeni authorities accuse former major opposition party of rebellion after days of violent factional fighting

Almost 30 people have died in a week during clashes between paramilitaries and forces of the Al Islá movement in Shabwa province

MADRID, 13 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Yemeni authorities have accused the forces of what was once the country's major opposition party, Al-Islah, of rebellion after a week of violent clashes between factions in Shabwa province that highlight the constant internal tension in the within the Presidential Leadership Council (CPL) that is fighting against the Huthi insurgency.

It all started on Monday when, according to local Yemeni government sources told the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, "military leaders close to Al-Isla" began advancing on Shabwa from neighboring Marib province before accusing the party of " try to take over the authority of the province," rich in oil.

Despite attempts to negotiate a cessation of hostilities, the party, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic organization in the world, ended up threatening to leave the CPL after learning that local authorities had ordered the dismissal of one of its commanders, which which triggered serious street clashes between rival security units in Ataq, the provincial capital.

Al-Isla's critics accuse the formation of being in complicity with the Houthi insurgency and of being, in general, toxic actors against the fragile unity of the Yemeni authorities in their fight against the Houthis, a war characterized by constant friction between the government recognized by the international community and its separatist allies in the south of the country.

This tension extends to the international level, mainly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, great representatives of the international coalition that helps the Yemeni authorities, and that sometimes divide loyalties between the members that form the Yemeni national alliance against the insurgents. Saudi Arabia extends its courtesy to government forces while the Emirates is more favorable to the separatists.

Thus, on Wednesday, the governor of Shabwa, Awad al Awlaki, ordered the paramilitary forces of the Giants Brigades to carry out an operation to suppress the forces of Al Isla, in an intensification of the clashes that has ended left so far 28 dead and more than 60 injured in the province.

Yemeni authorities have since ordered the removal of several military and security leaders accused of organizing a rebellion against the local Shabwa government, according to the Yemeni state-run Saba news agency.

The situation in Ataq now appears to be under control. The city is now the scene of patrols by forces related to the so-called Southern Transitional Council, the political alliance that represents the government-allied separatists in the cause against the Houthis. However, this Saturday, the provincial governor's office has condemned the attacks by the forces of Al Islá, a party "that seems to have adopted", he lamented in a statement collected by the South24 portal, "a position of rebellion in the governorate ".

These clashes also emerge in the midst of a ceasefire that has provided a respite for the Yemeni population, suffocated in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The EU mission in Yemen declared this week "very concerned about the recent violence in Shabwa and the loss of life", before welcoming "the efforts of Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi and the CPL he leads to reduce the severity of the situation".

"Combats like these," analyst Abdulghani Al Iryani points out to the Deutsche Welle network, "could hinder any type of negotiation that the CPL could undertake with the Houthis for a definitive ceasefire."