Al Qaeda makes in roads in Aden, Yemen under civil war
Shares
ADEN: In Tawahi, the flag has been hoisted over the police station and is flown on cars ferrying bearded men across one of the largest districts of the port city, residents say. "Armed men of Al-Qaeda control our whole district, even if there are only a few dozen of them," said Raefat, a 32-year-old employee of Yemeni radio and television. "It's no surprise given there's no state or government," he said. With the capital Sanaa under the control of Shiite Huthi rebels for the past year, the exiled government returned to Aden as its "provisional capital" in September, only to take flight again within weeks. Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and his team returned to Riyadh after a deadly October 6 attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group on an Aden hotel that was being used to house the government. A government security official told AFP that the jihadists are active in several areas "like Crater, Khor Maksar and Brigua, where their presence is growing stronger by the day". The official, declining to be named, said he "fears the city will fall under their total control in the absence of the state". Bahah's departure was a setback for government forces and the Saudi-led Arab coalition supporting them that had recaptured Aden from the Huthis and their allies in July.
