Al-Qaeda uploaded a vide on YouTube late on Thursday warning the Yemeni government any form of reprisal against terror detainees, who on Tuesday staged a riot in a failed attempt to break out of prison.
The Sana’a prison which houses a reported 300 al-Qaeda operatives managed to quell a full blown mutiny on Tuesday, after detainees launched at prison guards and managed to acquire fire arms as well as knives after breaking through one of the jail security line.
Pre-empting on any form of corporal or judicial revenge on its militants, al-Qaeda warned its retaliation would “painful”.
Jalal Baledi al-Maraqshi, a top ranking AQAP leader said, "We warn Sanaa's collaborator regime of the consequences of any attack on the prisoners due to their uprising against their jailers".
He added, "We will not remain silent and the response will be harsh and painful."
In his statement, Marqashi slammed the authorities for systematically mistreating prisoners, "from torture, beatings and insults to being held for long periods without charges or reasons as well as unfair and unjust trials."
Al-Marqashi’s video this Thursday eerily echoed AQAP chief Nasser al-Wahishi’s own message to Yemen and the world when he warned that his group had not forgotten their detained brothers, promising that soon salvation and freedom would be theirs.
While officials have rejected al-Qaeda’s allegations of torture against detainees, two Yemeni rights groups, among which HOOD, Yemen’s rights watchdog, have called on the United Nations to investigate the matter.
Moreover, the Centre for Civil and Political Rights and the Middle East Development Foundation called on Yemen to form a committee to probe the alleged "suffering" of prisoners which included "killing, wounding, and torturing".