For at least the last 5 months US has conducted 15 drone strike in various regions of Yemen, especially in Abyan Province. Us official believe that the attacked was targeting the radical Islamist in the region. The Yemeni authority shared the same opinion.
Many Yemenis feel quite sure about the political reformation in their country after Ali Abdullah Shaleh step down from power, however the optimism turn bitter after Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi took power in February 2012, he was Ali Abdullah Shaled vice president. The worst part of Al-Hadi administration is they refused to focuses on bureaucracy reformation and fix the public services, rather than fix all of those issues he is focusing on fighting the Islamist in southern Yemen.
This war on Islamist in southern Yemen especially Abyan Provinces has caused Yemen more than it should. So many people whom nothing to do with the radical Islamist abused by the drone strikes, the other is felt terrorize and unsafe.
Both Yemen government and US has exaggerated the issue in the Abyan Province. Indeed there are a number of radical groups that gain support from the poverty and unequal social opportunities in the region. Those circumstances give an advantage to the radical organization such as al-Qaeda to recruit new member.
The other issue in Abyan is the Somalia pirates. The pirates frequently selling weapons in open market. The pirates dock in Aden port and travel freely around the southern province, without any government official tries to stop them. This condition supports the social tense and criminal act in the region. On the other hand, Yemen have thirty-four percent on unemployed, forty-five percent live bellow the United Nations poverty line, fifty percent are illiterate.
Until now there is no specific plan from the Yemen authority to tackle social issue in the south, on the other hand US seems not really interest with the social issue, they prefer the cowboy way to solve things, with drone strike. US should learn from experienced in Afghanistan and Iraq, that the hard way is not goanna brings any significant result for peace and stability. The best way to handle south Yemen is with negotiation and full package of social policy especially toward poverty and inequality. Meanwhile the Yemen government needs to reform its administrative system. Corruption and incompetent official are the big issue in Sana’a.
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