A senior commander of the so-called “Bayda Resistance” revealed new information about Saudi-led coalition militants joining the ranks of Al-Qaeda in Bayda Governorate.
“The so-called legitimate resistance of Bayda, 70% of them joined the ranks of al-Qaeda, ” said the Leader Mohammed al-Riyami, in interview with the UAE-funded channel Al-Ghad Al-Mashreq.
القيادي/محمد الريامي احد قيادات مقاومة #البيضاء يؤكد في مقابله له على قناة الغد المشرق
"الشرعية خذلت البيضاء والكثير من أبناء البيضاء انخرطوا في صفوف تنظيم المكحلين بأوامر من الشرعية وتحت إدارتها"#علي_النسي pic.twitter.com/sNYGqUhzsW— علي النسي (@aalnaasi) February 28, 2023
Al-Riyami, who lives in the Egyptian capital Cairo, said the Bayda resistance’s militants joined the ranks of al-Qaeda after they received orders from the government loyal to the coalition countries Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“The legitimacy sent the people of Bayda to be under the framework of terrorism and the extremist party,” he said, referring to the Islah party.
Al-Riyami’s confessions came after coalition gunmen and members of al-Qaeda and ISIS suffered heavy losses in the operation launched by the army and popular committees in August 2020, the Qaifah Radaa area, the main stronghold of terrorist elements, in addition to the districts of Walad Rabai and Al-Qurashya in the province.
In July, during the two phases, the army and the popular committees were able to liberate the districts of Al-Sawma’ah and Al-Zaher, as well as Nati’ and Na’man districts.
During “Dawn of Freedom” operation, the army forces and the popular committees succeeded in completing the liberation of Al-Sawma’a, Maswara and parts of Mukayras in September 2021.
Some areas of Bayda governorate have been a major stronghold for takfiri elements since 2004, with direct US support, due to Bayda’s strategic location as it borders four southern governorates and four northern governorates, in-between the oil-rich provinces of Shabwah and Ma’rib.
