Operation Golden Swords was an offensive by the Yemeni military against Islamist militant forces, possibly including elements of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), in the province of Abyan with the purpose of re-capturing the militant-held towns of Zinjibar and Jaʿār.
On 12 May, the military started the offensive in an attempt to recapture all areas of Abyan out of their control. Over a month of fighting, 567 people were reportedly killed, including 429 Islamist fighters, 78 soldiers, 26 tribal fighters and 34 civilians. On 12 June the Yemeni army succeeded in retaking Zinjibar and Jaar, pushing the militants away after heavy clashes in and around both towns. The city of Shuqrah fell on 15 June, and militants retreated towards neighboring Shabwah Governorate.
Background
The Yemeni revolution (2011–2012) caused widespread unrest across Yemen as protestors demanded the resignation of longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Yemeni Armed Forces were split between those who remained loyal to Saleh and cracked down on the uprising, and those who backed the protestors and joined the opposition. The government redeployed most Saleh-loyalist security forces across the country, including in southern Yemen, to more populated urban areas including the capital of Sanaa in order to maintain control.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's traditional strongholds are positioned in southeastern Yemen. Abyan Governorate and other areas of southern Yemen have long been sources of Islamic extremism since many locals fought alongside the Afghan mujahideen before the area became a common training ground for militants on their way to participate in the Iraqi or Somali insurgencies. Prior to the revolution, AQAP had never attempted to control and administer large population centres, insteading remaining in remote, mountainous areas in the south. However, divisions in the military and the government's preoccupation with maintaining control in urban centres created a security gap which it exploited.
On 27 March 2011, militants from the group seized Jaar and its surrounding areas as army units fled their posts. Later in April, AQAP announced the creation of Ansar al-Sharia, a local rebrand which would attract people in areas under their control through its work and ideology. On 27 May, amid fighting between security forces and pro-opposition tribesmen in Sanaa, Ansar al-Sharia invaded and seized Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Governorate, after the army and other security forces abandoned the city. An offensive launched by the army and allied tribesmen in July eventually culminated in the "liberation" of the city in September according to officials, though only the northern and eastern parts were under government control. A stalemate proceeded into the end of the year. Separately, militants also seized the town of Shuqrah in August, as well as Azzan in neighbouring Shabwah Governorate in June and al-Rawdah in September.
Saleh was accused by the opposition of letting Abyan be overran by militants in order to increase his importance to the counterterrorism-focused United States and save his regime. His attempts would fail as he was forced to resign and ceed power to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in February 2012. In response to his inauguration, the militants launched a string of attacks culminating in an assault on army installations in the towns of Dofas and al-Kawd on 4 March, killing 185 soldiers. On 9 April, Ansar al-Sharia launched an attack on the strategic town of Lawdar, instigating an intense battle for it.
Prelude
On 5 May, in his first public speech since his inauguration, Hadi promised a new offensive against the militants, stating:
"The real battle against the terrorist al-Qaeda organization has yet to begin and will not end until we have eradicated their presence in every district, village and position; it will not end until internally displaced citizens are assured that they can return safely to their homes and organized terrorist operatives have surrendered their weapons and rid themselves of ideologies that contradict the sacred values of the Islamic religion."
On 8 May, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the US had "begun to reintroduce small numbers of trainers into Yemen." The first soldiers reportedly arrived on 11 May.
On 9 May, Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser Ahmed visited a number of military installations across the south to review combat readiness before the offensive. During his visit, he met with 201st Mechanized Brigade commander Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi and 119th Infantry Brigade commander Gen. Faisal Rajab before giving a speech to the soldiers. He also visited the Southern Military Region commander Gen. Salem Ali Qatan at Badr Air-force Camp in Aden alongside Governor Waheed Ali Rashid.
Timeline
12 May to 19 May
The offensive began on 12 May with the participation of 25,000 soldiers from eight military brigades. The 25th Mechanized Brigade, stationed in Zinjibar's outskirts, the 201st Mechanized Brigade, the 119th Infantry Brigade, the 31st Armored Mechanized Brigade, the 115th Infantry Brigade, and the 39th Armored Brigades from the Southern Military Region were the first to advance, while the 135th Infantry Brigade, part of the First Armored Division in Sanaa, and the 111th Infantry Brigade stationed in Lawdar joined later. The Yemeni Air Force launched raids on militant targets before the army moved in on the ground. It also dropped leaflets on Lawdar, Mudiyah and al-Wade'a district urging locals to not cooperate with the militants in order avoid being bombed. An airstrike early morning in Jaar killed three militants and one civilian. Attacking from the west, the army reached the Kadama area on the outskirts of Jaar. The army moved in on Zinjibar from three directions supported by the air force and the navy. Clashes in the areas lead to the deaths of six militants and two soldiers, including one colonel, while 12 other soldiers were injured.
On 13 May, air raids across Abyan lead to the deaths of at least 30 militants. In Jaar, militants took refuge from the airstrikes inside government buildings in the town center. At dawn, army forces launched an assault on the al-Hurur area west of Zinjibar, pushing out the militants as government forces destroyed captured army vehicles, including nearly a dozen tanks and vehicles mounted with rocket launchers. The capture of al-Hurur positioned the army just outside of Jaar. Clashes around Zinjibar and in the nearby town of al-Kawd killed 12 soldiers. Government forces reached the Shaddad Fort, around three kilometres east of the city, and Zinjibar Bridge, just one kilometre south of the city. Militants reportedly blew up an oil pipeline in Mayfaa district, Shabwah, in retaliation to losses from the offensive. An attempted attack on the northern gate of the al-Anad Air Base near the living quarters was repelled, though one military officer was killed.
On 14 May, heavy fighting erupted in the al-Jabalain area near Jaar as army forces attempted to advance on the town. A Yemeni jet misfired and accidentally struck civilians in the city, wounding two children. An airstrike on a vehicle travelling on the outskirts of Lawdar killed six militants, while 10 militants were killed by airstrikes on their hideout in Shuqrah. Six army soldiers were killed during clashes in Zinjibar.
On 15 May, the military began launching airstrikes on Jaar, five days after it dropped leaflets on the town warning civilians to avoid militant hideouts. The first attack targeted a house and killed two militants. A later air raid killed 12 people from a group of civilians which gathered around the house after the initial strike, and injured 21. Later airstrikes in the town killed 11 militants. The army arrested 25 militants on motorcycles in the area. Clashes in al-Jabalain continued until early in the day, killing at least eight militants and one soldier, and leading to the arrest of two Somali militants. The Yemeni Army had managed to push into the center of Zinjibar, while air force helicopters flew over the city for the first time since its seizure, indicating that the militants had lost their anti-air capability. In Lawdar, eight Popular Committee fighters and eight soldiers were killed, including Colonel Qasim Dabwan of the 111th Infantry Brigade, who was killed by a militant sniper. Popular Committee spokesperson Ali Ahmed said that security forces had pushed the militants "further away from the southern and western entrances of the city." Clashes in the strategic Yusuf Mountain area which overlooks Lawdar left 12 militants, five Popular Committee fighters, and two soldiers dead after the military launched airstrikes on militant hideouts in the area. Government forces seized the hilltop after intense fighting.
On 16 May, militants fired artillery at government forces stationed on the hilltop of the Yusuf Mountain, killing two armed tribesmen and wounding four. The army launched a counterattack in response, killing 11 militants in clashes atop the mountain. Government forces eventually captured the mountain by 11:00 as the militants had retreated. Airstrikes on a farm in Mudiyah destroyed two vehicles and killed at least 16 militants, including top local commander Samir al-Fathani. Hit-and-run battles between security forces and militants in Zinjibar left four soldiers dead, while a Jordanian surgeon was arrested on suspicion he was heading to join the militants in Zinjibar. A military officer stated that the army was advancing towards the southeast entrance of the city.
On 17 May, the military stated that it was advancing in Zinjibar backed by artillery and airstrikes. Yemeni officials stated that the offensive in Zinjibar had slowed down in part due to poor intelligence, leading to uncertainty as to whether most militants in the city were dead, fled the battle or strategically withdrew in preparation for a counteroffensive. The bodies of 11 soldiers and tribal fighters were found in an area the militants retreated from near Lawdar, seemingly killed execution-style. Later in the day, the Yemeni Defense Minister announced that Lawdar had been cleared of militants and was fully secured, ending the battle in the area. Local residents celebrated in the streets as some fired guns into the air. An airstrike in Shuqrah killed six suspected militants.
On 18 May, the military began a two-pronged attack on Jaar as army forces moved in and clashed with militants about 10 kilometers north of the town, killing eight of them. According to the military, the army made "notable advances" west of Jaar and were situated near an ammunition depot controlled by the militants in the vicinity of the town. Five militants were killed by armed tribesmen as they prevented them from passing through their village northwest of Jaar. Airstrikes on Shuqrah killed three militants and wounded six.
On 19 May, clashes about six miles from Jaar left 12 soldiers and 22 militants dead. Sporadic fighting continued in the area as the air force launched raids on the city. Officials claimed that government forces were in control of the western outskirts of Jaar and were about one kilometer from the city. Two militants were killed and six others were captured by government forces outside of the city. A surprise attack on a military post in the Rahwat al-Hisan area south of Jaar killed five soldiers and injured four, while army retaliation killed six militants. Separately, militants destroyed two army tanks in Abyan, killing their operators.
20 May to 27 May
On 20 May, overnight clashes on the western outskirts of Jaar killed 13 militants and five tribal fighters, and wounded an additional four. According to local residents, an overnight militant ambush held off an army advance from the west, while Ansar al-Sharia claimed that it had conducted three raids in the area near Jaar. The air force launched four strikes on al-Rabwa, at Jaar's western entrance, killing several militants. Airstrikes were also launched on a factory on the northern edge of the city which was being used as a base by the militants, killing at least nine. Witnesses reported seeing 18 vehicles loaded with militants from Azzan being sent to reinforce Jaar. A statement written by AQAP leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi surfaced on jihadist internet forums in which he urged militants to fight to the death. His statement was largely perceived by analysts as an admission of defeat according to the Yemen Post.