The Yemeni coalition government declared an all-out war on al-Qaeda this Wednesday when it launched an air and ground offensive on the terror group in south-eastern Hadhramawt where several villages near Mukalla have fallen prey to the Islamists.
In May, al-Qaeda invaded several villages in Hadhramawt in a bid to assert itself as a power player in the province and emulate its 2011 victory against the central government. At the midst of Yemen revolution al-Qaeda used a power vacuum to seize large swathes of land in the southern province of Abyan. Subsequently the group declared Jaar and Zinjibar, which both had fallen under its command Islamic Caliphates.
Forced out of Abyan in 2012 by the military and local tribes, al-Qaeda operatives went back into hidings, awaiting their next opportunity.
Not surprisingly the group has chosen now to operate in Hadhramawt, a secessionist stronghold, which loyalty to the central government runs only skin deep.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that troops (a reported 10,000 men) backed by tanks and helicopters launched their first assault against al-Qaeda in Ghayl Bawasir, a city-village situated 30 Km east of the seaport of Mukalla.
So far officials confirmed 10 death: three soldiers and seven al-Qaeda fighters.
Although the defense ministry denied in May reports that al-Qaeda had managed to take control over areas around Mukalla, ahead of broader and bolder move against the regional capital city itself, it later on had to concur with press reports and admit Islamists were once again hitting the drums of war.