The opposition Joint Meeting Parties, JMP, said in a statement that the Saleh government was behind arming the militants in Zinjibar. The statement said that these militants work for Saleh and are made up by him to use against the people when he wants. "He uses these tactics to show the international community what risks Yemen would pass through if he leaves office.," said the JMP statement. A senior opposition JMP official said that Saleh promised this week that Yemen will enter a civil war and Abyan will be taken over by al-Qaeda, and that is what is happening now. "Saleh gave the militants in Abyan the arms to his forces left the city without clashes," he said. "He is willing to kill as many Yemeni people as it takes to stay in power."
He added, "The Yemeni government is giving al-Qaeda a chance to strengthen itself while it is as weak as ever in Yemen."

Thousands of locals in Zinjibar have evacuated the city fearing that attacks will continue for a while.