A security campaign against smuggling and human trafficking on the coasts of Lahj Governorate
English - Saturday 12 August 2023 الساعة 05:42 pm
Lahj, NewsYemen, Muhyiddin Al-Subaihi:
The joint security campaign in Al-Madaraba and Ras Al-Ara coastal districts, west of Lahj governorate, entered the second week of deployment and tracking the smuggling and human trafficking gangs that the directorate is witnessing and threatens its security and stability.
For many years, the coastal strip in Al-Madaraba and Ras al-Ara remained a major hub for smuggling of contraband, weapons and ammunition coming to Yemen from the coasts of the Horn of Africa opposite the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
The region has also become a major transit point for illegal immigrants from neighboring African countries, as smuggling gangs exploit the unsecured coastline to disembark thousands of migrants and herd them into yards after a dangerous sea voyage.
The increase in smuggling and human trafficking has raised a state of resentment among the people of the region, who have repeatedly appealed for the need for local, governmental and security authorities to act to address these imbalances that affect security and social peace and destroy the country.
Serious campaign
In early August, a joint security and military campaign began, consisting of the Nation Shield Brigades, the 2nd and 17th Giants Brigades, the Zayed Brigade, and the 3rd Brigade, Hazm, Public Security, and the Security Belt.
This campaign comes after the forces of the Giants Brigades managed to secure the Tur Al-Baha district and the Al-Sabiha areas during the past months, and cut off the smuggling and human trafficking lines that were present in the district.
In the first days of the campaign, the joint security and military forces succeeded in liberating 450 African migrants, including women and children, who were being held by human smugglers in barns built of straw and wood, north of Al-Ara area.
The forces burned those smugglers' barns outside the town of Ras al-Ara in the surrounding villages, where African immigrants are landed so that their families can send sums of money for their arrival to the area, according to the testimonies of the immigrants who were caught.
The forces also carried out a precise security operation targeting the town of Azafa, 4 km north of the Al-Ara area, during which they succeeded in seizing a smuggler's store containing various types of weapons and ammunition, as well as a number of African immigrants being held in the store.
According to a statement issued by the media center of the 2nd Brigade Giants, the security operation in Azafah witnessed the seizure of tank shells, mortar fillings, ammunition 23, 14 dashka ammunition, binoculars, Dushka bases and other military devices, and a number of Africans were seized on board, as the number of kits detained during the campaign reached 14 kits belonging to the smuggling elements.
The Director General of the Directorate of Mudaraba and Ras al-Ara, Murad Jobeh, explained that the campaign that the directorate has been witnessing since the beginning of last week, with the participation of many security forces, started from the Azafa area and ended with Saqiah. He explained: All the yards and houses built by the smugglers were burned, and five senior smugglers were arrested and imprisoned from various Yemeni regions. As well as the deportation of 1,200 African immigrants by sea to Djibouti, while there are 3,000 others who have been referred for international migration to be distributed in shelter centers affiliated with the United Nations.
He pointed out that the security campaign is constant and will continue to achieve security and development in the district, which most of the residents of these areas aspire to after years of suffering due to the negative effects left by the smuggling phenomenon in the region.
And he continued: The security campaign found disturbing things that anger everyone who has a conscience, from the types of dangerous prohibitions and disgraceful acts in the various yards and buildings that smugglers took as a refuge to land Africans in them.
He explained that the forces were able, during the raid on those sites, to seize 15 vehicles used for these suspicious activities on the coasts of the Madaraba and Ras Al-Ara directorates.
Multiple tasks
During a raid on one of the smugglers' camps in the area, the soldiers were surprised by the huge amount of contraband being smuggled, including dangerous fertilizers used by the Houthi militia in the manufacture of explosive and explosive devices.
According to Commander Jaafar al-Kalouli, Commander of the Deterrence Forces in the Southern Giants Brigades, the campaign carried out several missions in the coastal strip, as it combed and raided the smuggling enclosures located in the villages surrounding Ras al-Ara, which are desert areas used by smugglers as a headquarters and a main point of disembarkation for contraband smuggling and human trafficking. Pointing out that 52 smugglers were arrested and imprisoned.
He added that the security campaign, during its missions, found weapons stores containing ammunition, missiles, and some contraband, such as wine and fertilizer factories that are used in the manufacture of explosives, and a number of cars and motorcycles that are used in smuggling operations.
Asaad Abu Al-Khattab, a reporter for the Second Brigade Giants, told NewsYemen that the security campaign began with a joint force assigned by the President of the Presidential Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, and the Minister of Defense, and prepared a plan for it in advance to surprise the smuggled elements in their locations.
He added: Participating in the campaign are the Giants Brigades led by Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri of the 2nd Division Giants and Majid Omar Saeed of the 17th Giants Brigade, as well as the Deterrence Forces of the Giants Brigades led by Jaafar Al-Kalouli, and from the Shield of the Nation the 1st Brigade led by Majdi Manazil and the 4th Brigade led by Abdul Khaleq Al-Kalouli as well as Mahmoud Sail, the brigade commander. The third was Hazm and Abd al-Ghani al-Sururi, commander of the Zayed Brigade.
He pointed out that the campaign has great strength and aims to dry up the sources of smuggling, chase smugglers, remove Africans and deport them. It will continue at a good pace and will have future plans to secure the region and enhance security and stability.
Houthi link
The commander of the security campaign, Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, praised the cooperation of the sons of Mudaraba and Ras al-Ara with the campaign, specifically the sheikhs and notables of the directorate, reviewing what was accomplished during the first week of the campaign in terms of seizing a number of smugglers and equipment and removing the Al-Ahbush camps in which he was practicing alcohol and obscenity, as well as Confiscation of many seizures of various types of contraband, including types of ammunition for various types of weapons.
Sheikh Hamdi touched on the rebellion of a person in the Directorate and his opposition to the security campaign, and his incitement and spreading sedition and lies against the campaign. The head of the committee disclosed transparently that the aforementioned is considered a "Houthi" and is directly linked to Houthi elements, specifically the governor of Lahj appointed by the Houthis called Juraib. He assured those who attended of the presence of firm evidence against the invitee and his actions against the Directorate to serve Al-Houthi.
The campaign leader sent a warning message to the smugglers to continue to pursue and seize them in the event of the continuation of their suspicious activities and the exploitation of the coasts of Lahj for illegal trade. He explained that there is great cooperation by sheikhs, notables, and the tribes of Al-Sabiha and the Directorate to make the campaign a success and to hand over the wanted tribesmen involved in the smuggling operations.
Brigadier General Shukri revealed the conclusion of agreements to end the feuds within Al-Sabiha areas, especially after restoring security and stability to the Tur Al-Baha district in the previous campaign and ending any manifestations of selling and carrying weapons in the markets, hoping that Mudaraba and Ras Al-Ara will be the best directorates of the province, and that this matter comes through serious cooperation. By everyone in eliminating various manifestations of smuggling that harm the national economy.
He referred to redoubling efforts and striving together to organize the process of organized landing in order to benefit from its financial resources legally, as well as reactivating the work of government institutions in the directorate to serve the interests of the general public, noting the importance of activating the role of security to achieve security and stability, because with the presence of security all other matters are settled in complete order.
Popular support
The campaign received great support from the people of the district, who hope to restore stability to their coasts, to eradicate smuggling and stop it, and to restore life to the area, which is an important economic site if it is optimally exploited.
Many believe that this process will contribute to restoring stability to the coastal strip of the governorates of Lahj and Taiz, and will greatly reduce the phenomenon of human trafficking and smuggling of prohibited materials, especially fertilizers used in the Houthi explosives industry.
The continuation of the process will contribute significantly to economic development by regulating the export and import of various materials from the countries of the Horn of Africa, instead of smuggling them through the coastal strip.
And in the Al-Mahwali complex in the Directorate of Al-Mudaraba and Ras Al-Ara, Lahj Governorate, a solemn tribal meeting was held for the sheikhs and notables of the district, headed by Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the security and military campaign in the district, and in the presence of Abd Rabbo Al-Mahwali, Deputy Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training, Murad Saif Jobah, Director General of the Directorate, and Muthanna Zalit, Director Directorate security.
The meeting discussed a number of matters related to the security, economic and social status of the Directorate, ways to advance and upgrade the level of services in the Directorate, and joint fraternal cooperation in order to eliminate various types of phenomena that violate order and law, in addition to reviewing what the campaign has achieved since its launch on the morning of Saturday 5 August.
The meeting embodied the principle of fraternal cooperation among the people of the Directorate as one cohesive body, and their great concern for the Directorate to be an honorable model in security discipline in a fundamental way, as well as to harness its resources in development projects that meet the needs of citizens by providing high-end basic services within the framework of the Directorate, and redrawing a civilized image of the Directorate
Sheikh Abd Rabbo Al-Mahwali, Deputy Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training, called on all citizens of the Directorate to the need for joint cooperation, to express differences and fraternal coexistence with love and respect, and to continue unifying ranks and strengthening the word to restore the history of the glory of Al-Sabiha, and those who were the first president of Al-Sabiha. He noted that glory will not come except through everyone's cooperation in a high fraternal spirit and altruism by providing the supreme interest of the Directorate for any special interests.
