As the Yemeni government is fighting off Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen, a Sunni Muslim terror group which seeks to overthrow the republican system in order to establish a Islamic Caliphate(system of government based solely on Shariah Law and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Conceptually the caliphate represents the political unity of the entire community of Muslim faithful (ummah) ruled by a single caliph); a number of state, tribal and religious Yemeni dignitaries have been increasingly calling for the Youth to fight alongside Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) in Syria, under the banner of Jihad.

The poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has a long history with Jihad (holy war). Profoundly attached to its religious identity, Yemen is decisively one of the Peninsula most devout and traditional societies. It is this attachment to its Islamic roots and belief system which times and times over have pushed young men to leave their homeland and fight Islam's cause on foreign shores.

Back in the 1980s when the Soviet Union was occupying Afghanistan, thousands of Yemeni nationals answered the call of Jihad to fight alongside American-backed militias.
History will have it that many of those very mujahideen (Jihad fighters) would morph into terror militants under the black banner of al-Qaeda or like in Afghanistan, the Taliban.

Fears are now that Yemen fresh Mujahideen recruits will end up serving terror groups' purposes in the region rather than support the people of Syria in their fight against tyranny.
While Yemenis might have the best intentions at heart, feeling a duty toward their fellow-Muslims, officials at the Interior Ministry are concerned more young men will become radicalized.

Jabbhat al-Nusra
Founded on 23 January 2012 in reaction to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad violent military crackdown against pro-democracy activists, Jabhat al-Nusra was identified by the U.S intelligence services in December 2012 as a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda.
Described by western powers as "the most aggressive and successful arm of the rebel force", Jabhat al-Nusra has grown stronger and more powerful as more recruits answered its leaders' calls for jihad. All across the Arab world, and maybe most predominantly in Yemen, where notions such as Jihad and religious brotherhood are taken very seriously indeed, men flocked to the callings of prominent clerics, such Sheikh Abdel Majeed al-Zindani.
Both an influential religious and tribal leader, Sheikh al-Zindani has long figured among America's most wanted terror list, as officials in Washington believe the man had close link with al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Rumored to be a supporter, mastermind and financial enabler, Washington was however never able to question the powerful and well-respected Sheikh; officials in Sana'a having warned his arrest would prompt widespread violence and outrage throughout, so much is his pull in Yemen.

According to reports published in local Yemeni newspapers, among which, al-Shareh and al-Jumhour, several religious leaders associated to al-Islah, Yemen Sunni radical faction, would have not only called for new recruits to join in the fight in Syria but they would have facilitated their travel to Syria, via Turkey.
It is important to note that while elements within al-Islah are in favor of Jihad in Syria, their stance does not reflect that of the party as a whole.

The Terrorists of tomorrow?
Speaking to al-Shorfa in April, Interior Ministry's spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Qaedi insisted "the government lacks specific figures regarding the number of recruits going to Syria."
He also emphasized "Yemenis must work together to lift the country out of its crisis because we have serious problems that require unity."
Security analysts are now raising the alarm bells, warning that today's new mujahideen would turn into the terrorists of tomorrow. Saeed al-Jamli from the Center for Studies and Research said he personally believed that using religion to fulfill a political purpose was positively dangerous and harmful to society, as returnees will find difficult to reintegrate their communities.

"Regardless of the positions taken by individuals and countries", he said, recruiting people to fight in the name of religion means many enthusiastic youth will declare jihad as they interpret it".
This will make Syria a training ground for fighters and a source for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which poses an even greater threat than fighters trained in Afghanistan."

Analysts are all pointing to the same historical reference, Afghanistan 1990s war against Russia, when tens of thousands of foreign fighters, many Yemeni nationals, were allowed to leave their country to enroll as mujahideen. Backed and financed by Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, as both allies sought to fight off the soviet threat in the region, America's funded holy war, ended up creating modern times' biggest threat, al-Qaeda.
The very terror group which in 2011 invaded large swathes of land in Yemen southern province of Abyan, declared Islamic caliphates in Jaar and Zinjibar and relentlessly targeted government interests throughout the country as to destabilize the central government and achieve victory against the republican system.

Yemen still remembers how one of its national, Ossama bin Laden was seduced by radical Islamists and how his involvement in Afghanistan led to his leading of al-Qaeda and ultimately his death in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.