‘Stronger than Al-Qaeda’: ISIL poised to rise in southern Yemeni city

[bemildred]

ADEN, Yemen — If planting a flag denotes a territorial claim, then the assortment of banners displayed across Aden southern Yemen are indicative of the complex web of players involved in attempts to control the city.

Various flags are coiled around poles at checkpoints, sprayed on walls, painted on cars, stuck on ammunition clips and cellphone covers. No single group’s leaders or followers have yet asserted control of the ruined city after many months of war.

Among the multitude of markers are three national flags: Saudi Arabia’s, the United Arab Emirates’ and the defunct socialist state of South Yemen’s, which is now a symbol of independence for the secessionists calling for renewed separation from the north.

Despite all these representations of nationhood, there is no state here or, most notably, any sign of the Yemeni tricolor. That flag — viewed by southerners as a vestige of northern oppression and now aggression — would indicate the government’s presence.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/17/embattled-yemen-aden-rise-islamic-state.html

[KoKo]

1. Well...here we have what it is:

Among the multitude of markers are three national flags: Saudi Arabia’s, the United Arab Emirates’ and the defunct socialist state of South Yemen’s, which is now a symbol of independence for the secessionists calling for renewed separation from the north.

When the combined forces of the predominantly northern Shia Houthis — along with loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh — descended on Aden in mid-March, their pretext for war was the city’s being a stronghold for Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIL). The Houthis and their supporters adopted the name as a blanket term to describe Yemen’s Al-Qaeda offshoot, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as well as the more recently emerged ISIL affiliate in Yemen. While this appellation overstated the presence of the two groups at the other end of the spectrum, representatives of the Yemeni government — who largely remain in self-imposed exile in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — insist Al-Qaeda does not exist and that its presence in Aden is a Houthi-made myth. The reality lies somewhere in between.

What Was It ALL FOR?

It remains to be seen....