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SANAA, Yemen (AP) — At least 2,000 displaced Yemenis returned home Friday to a restive area in the country’s south that has been under the control of al-Qaida-linked militants for more than seven months.
Their return to Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan province, provides some of the first civilian views of the Islamic rule the militants have begun to set up in the poorly governed hinterlands of the Arab world’s poorest country: A zone where armed men from a various Arab countries move about in new Toyota trucks and vow to implement strict Islamic law.
Militants began seizing territory in Yemen’s southern Abyan province last spring, solidifying their control over the town of Jaar in April before taking the provincial capital, Zinjibar, in May. They call their organization Ansar al-Shariah, or Partisans of Shariah, which is linked to al-Qaida.
Yemeni security forces have been trying unsuccessfully to push them out since then in fierce fighting that has caused regular casualties on both sides. The conflict has forced tens of thousands of civilians from Zinjibar and the surrounding area to flee, many to the port city of Aden.
Some made their first efforts to return last month, staging two marches from Aden. Both times, militants turned them back, saying the city wasn’t safe.
But Saturday’s return was coordinated with the militant group. More than 2,000 residents entered Zinjibar, where the militants welcomed them with carbonated drinks and cookies then slaughtered cows for dinner, said resident Abdel-Hakim al-Marqashi.
Before dinner, however, all gathered in the city center for an address by a man called “Abu Hamza,” who was introduced as the prince of what the militants declared a new Islamic state.
Al-Marqashi said Abu Hamza told the crowd that they were now “safe and secure,” and that the leaders of the Islamic emirate will work to restore services like water and electricity and impose justice according to Islamic Shariah law.
Abu Hamza said the group had set up an Islamic court to deal with crimes and problems between residents.
The returning residents expressed mixed feelings about the militants now in control of Zinjibar.
“Ansar al-Shariah and al-Qaida are not atrocious beings from some other planet,” said Wagdi al-Shabi. “We found them to be people like us, of flesh and blood. What makes them better is their belief and their jihad for the victory of Islam and to help the less fortunate.”
The nearby town of Jaar, which the same militant group has controlled for the past nine months, may provide the best idea of what lies ahead for Zinjibar.
Security has returned to Jaar and shops and coffee houses are open, said Jameel Rawih, who visited the town Saturday. The militants oversee the marketplace and ensure that women cover their faces in public and that men, too, dress modestly.
Strict Islamic law is firmly imposed. Town residents say the militants have cut off the hands of people convicted of stealing, and executed some people convicted either of murder or of spying for the Yemeni army.