Al-Qaeda, Daesh terrorists using Ma’rib as launching pad for attacks on all Yemeni regions: Officials

 Yemeni officials say members of the Takfiri al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups are using the center of strategic Ma’rib Province to launch attacks on other regions in the war-ravaged country, and that the militants are receiving training from Saudi military officers.

 

“Al-Qaeda and Daesh [terrorist] groups have turned Ma’rib into a launching pad for attacks on entire Yemeni regions. They are under the auspices of a Saudi officer, and sending car bombs and death squads across the country,” Director of Yemen’s Presidency Office Ahmed Hamed said at a ceremony in Sana’a on Tuesday.

 

He added, “Those who are now crying foul at the ongoing battle in Ma’rib kept mum when Sana’a was under threat by [the al-Qaeda-affiliated Salafist] Islah Party, al-Qaeda and Daesh [terrorists].”

 

    “Why is it that no one is worried about the closure of Sana’a International Airport, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of patients? Why is it that no one is concerned about the seizure of Yemen-bound oil tankers, which has brought vital, health and service sectors in Yemen to a standstill. This is while al-Qaeda and Daesh operatives have occupied the city of Ma’rib and displaced its local residents. It is very heartbreaking,” Hamed said.

 

Chairman of the Comprehensive National Reconciliation and Political Solution Team Yousef Abdullah al-Fishi also said Yemeni and foreign militants from Islah Party as well as al-Qaeda and Daesh terror groups have come together in Ma’rib, displaced locals and usurped their residences.

 

    “Why don’t we hear the United Nations, the Security Council, the international community and, above all, the United States voicing concern about the brutal siege of 30 million people [in Yemen]?,” he questioned.

 

Over the past few weeks, Ma’rib has been the scene of large-scale operations by Yemeni troops and allied Popular Committees fighters, who are pushing against Saudi-backed militants loyal to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.