Local officials in the south-eastern province of Hadhramawt have confirmed on Friday that Ansar al-Shariah militants, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the region had made do on earlier promises they would successfully take control over villages in the province.
Several villages surrounding Mukalla, the regional capital of Hadhramawt are said to be under the control of the Islamists, a move which chillingly mirror Abyan 2011 terror siege. Back in 2011 as revolutionaries were calling for the resignation of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, al-Qaeda militants used the power vacuum to move against the southern province of Abyan and seize large swathes of land. In 2012 they boldly declared the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar to be Islamic Caliphates. It was the first time that al-Qaeda in Yemen clearly stated its political ambition, return the Islamic world to the ruling system of the Caliphates.
The Interior Ministry was quick to react to the news, telling the press, "We condemn the terrorist plot to proclaim an Islamic emirate in the Ghayl Bawazir area", near Mukalla. Officials warned that as the military fought al-Qaeda in Abyan in 2012, so would it now in Hadhramawt.
While the coalition government benefited in 2011 and 2012 from the support of local tribes in Abyan against al-Qaeda, security experts have suggested that this time the situation could be very different in Hadhramawt. A stronghold of al-Harak, the Southern Secessionist Movement, it is believed that Hadhrami Haraki leaders are not opposed to an alliance of purpose with the terror group as some estimate that the group's military capacity could help the secessionist movement materialize its political ambition.