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Yemen declares nighttime curfew in port city of Aden Yemen declares nighttime curfew in port city of Aden
(about 1 hour later)
SANAA, Yemen — A governor in southern Yemen has declared a nighttime curfew for the port city of Aden in a bid to push back against recent incursions by al-Qaida and other Islamic militants. SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s internationally recognized government has declared a nighttime curfew, starting Monday, in the key southern port city of Aden in a bid to push back against recent incursions by al-Qaida and other Islamic militant groups, the city’s governor said.
Aidarous al-Zubaidi says the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will go into effect on Monday night. Over the weekend, government forces retook Aden’s strategic port after heavy clashes with militants who had seized it earlier. According to the Aden governor, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the curfew will be in place every night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for an unspecified period.
Al-Qaida and other militants have been using the port for lucrative smuggling operations. The measure came after government forces retook Aden’s strategic port after heavy clashes with militants who had seized it earlier over the weekend. Al-Qaida and other militants have been using the port for lucrative smuggling operations.
Yemen’s al-Qaida branch has exploited the chaos of the country’s civil war to stage significant land grabs and expand its footprint in the south. However, it remained unclear how well the curfew can be enforced since the Yemeni forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab states that is supported by the United States, are stretched thin as they battle the Shiite rebels known as Houthis.
The conflict in Yemen pits the internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, allied with a former president. Yemen’s al-Qaida branch has long been seen by Washington as the most potent affiliate of the extremist network and has been linked to a number of attempted attacks on the U.S. The group, known as the Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has captured much of Yemen’s sprawling Hadramawt province and its capital, Mukalla, as well as the capital of southern Abyan province, Zinjibar and the town of Jaar.
The group and Islamic State-linked militants have exploited the chaos of the country’s civil war to stage significant land grabs and expand its footprint in southern Yemen.
According to U.N. figures, the war in Yemen has killed at least 5,884 people since March, when fighting escalated after the Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes targeting the rebels
The conflict pits the internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels, allied with a former president.
The two sides launched peace negotiations in December in Switzerland, and a truce was declared on the ground, which never really took hold as both the government forces and the rebels ignored it. That truce formally ended over the weekend.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.