Al-Qaeda vowed on Tuesday to exert its revenge against the Houthis (a Shiite group led by Abdel-Malek al Houthi, which stronghold is situated in the northern province of Sa’ada), warning it would pursue the group and its militants for it dared took arms against Salafi militants in Dammaj, a city in Sa’ada.
What started off as a territorial spat in Dammaj late October has now evolved into a fully pledged sectarian conflict, with one on the one hand Yemen’s Zaidi community and on the other hand radical Sunni militants. Both factions have argued that the other is looking to impose its own interpretation of Islam onto the other, thus violating their right to self-religious expression as to claim control over more lands.
The Houthis which until 2011 were mostly confined to northern Sa’ada have used 2011 revolution to expand their zone of influence to neighbouring provinces: Hajjah, al-Jawf, Sa’ada and parts of Amran, a move which their ideological nemesis, the Salafis have strongly resented and worked to counter-act.
Since October 30, Dammaj, which is home to Dar al-Hadeeth, a religious centre run by the Salafis has been the scene for much violence and bloodshed. The Houthis have justified their attacks against Dar al-Hadeeth by accusing the Salafis of running a training camp for wannabe Jihadists in Dammaj, allegations which the Sunni radicals have strongly rejected.
Site Monitoring Service, which tracks down and reports on all al-Qaeda activities in the region, issued a statement late on Tuesday on the internet warning that al-Qaeda militants would seek to ignite further sectarian tensions in northern Sa’ada by interfering in the already festering feud.
At a time when Yemen is due to announce the results of its six-month long National Dialogue Conference ahead of the drafting of its new constitution, the timing of such a sectarian-based feud could not have come at a most inopportune time. Months of careful negotiations and political reconciliation could now collapse over religious divergence.
As reported by Reuters, AQAP's warningit would seek revenge was carried out by Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari, a religious official in the militant group, and posted by Yemeni journalist Abdul Razza al-Jamal on his Facebook page. It read, "We declare our total solidarity with our Sunni brothers in the centre in Dammaj, and in other Sunni areas that the Houthi group had attacked. Your crimes against the Sunni people will not pass without punishment or disciplinary action.”
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