Analysis: Saudi Initiative to Form Salafi Forces in Yemen’s Al-Mahra Sparks Concerns in Oman

New details have surfaced regarding Saudi Arabia's plans to establish armed military units in Yemen's Al-Mahra Governorate, an eastern region bordering Oman.

 

According to information obtained by Al-Mawqe Post from local leaders in Al-Mahra, preparations are underway to train and set up camps for members of the hardline Salafi faction, a group supported and funded by Saudi Arabia to align with its regional agenda in Al-Mahra.

 

The Salafi faction was not originally present in Al-Mahra. They arrived after the events in Saada Governorate in 2013, which forced the Salafis to disperse across several Yemeni governorates after being driven out of Saada, a governorate that had once been their stronghold. This was due to the Dar al-Hadith center, founded by the spiritual leader of the Salafi movement in Yemen, Muqbil Hadi al-Wadi'i, who adopted the Salafi ideology in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.

 

The upheaval in Yemen after the February 2011 revolution and subsequent developments significantly affected the Salafis. Starting in 2012, the Houthis launched a brutal campaign in Saada, culminating in the Salafis’ forced displacement in early 2014 under the passive watch of the Yemeni government, which did nothing to intervene. In fact, the government's indifferent policies played a significant role in encouraging the Houthis to pursue their campaign, effectively abandoning the Salafis to their fate.

 

This incident was one of the key reasons behind the Salafis' migration to various Yemeni governorates in search of a safe haven. With the fall of the capital, Sana'a, to the Houthis in September 2014, the Salafis sought refuge in more distant provinces, hoping to find safety. Al-Mahra was one of the governorates they eventually reached.

 

The first Salafis arrived in Al-Mahra in 2014, during the height of the conflict in Saada and shortly before the capital's fall. As the war intensified, targeting the Dar al-Hadith center, a group of students and Salafi members from various governorates settled in Al-Mahra and attempted to establish a Salafi center in the district of Huswain District. However, the local residents opposed this move, expelling them and preventing the establishment of the center.

 

In Al-Mahra, the Salafis found a peaceful environment to remain, as the region had not previously witnessed sectarian strife. This allowed them to spread across several districts. However, their growing numbers and efforts to promote their ideology prompted a social movement against them. Demonstrations and protests erupted, calling for their expulsion and an end to their influence, particularly in the historic town of Qishn, where residents held protests in January 2018, demanding the removal of the Salafis. Even women participated in these protests.

 

The Salafi expansion in Al-Mahra coincided with Saudi Arabia's entry into the governorate at the end of 2017. The kingdom has since used the Salafis to further its agenda, providing them with housing, financial support, and local radio stations and mosques to propagate their beliefs and recruit students, both from within Al-Mahra and beyond.

This Saudi-backed empowerment of the Salafi faction has turned them into a significant challenge for the local community in Al-Mahra, particularly after some of their leaders issued fatwas declaring local figures to be infidels, while promoting Saudi policies, including Riyadh's stance on the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. This prompted local figures to denounce the actions and raise the issue with the government, which eventually reached an agreement with the Salafis to refrain from using mosques for sectarian incitement.

 

However, this calm was short-lived. Reports have surfaced of a Saudi plan to form military units from Salafi elements. Al-Mawqe Post obtained messages from a senior Salafi leader overseeing the preparations, discussing the need for land in Al-Mahra to establish a camp and prepare for the upcoming recruitment drive.

 

According to information obtained by "Al-Mawqe Post" from local sources in Al-Mahra, these forces will be named the "Homeland Shield Forces in Al-Mahra." They are an extension of newly formed local forces affiliated with the Presidential Leadership Council, headed by Rashad al-Alimi. These forces are primarily led by figures associated with the Salafi movement and are deployed across several provinces, including Hadramout, Shabwa, and Aden.

 

One member of these new formations confirmed that training for the new force would take place in Al-Mahra, with discussions currently underway to select a suitable location for their deployment and retraining. Recruits will be drawn from all eight districts of Al-Mahra.

 

Local media reports suggest that Saudi officers at Al-Ghaydah airport have secretly coordinated with Salafi leaders to form the new force. The Salafis justify this as the formation of a local force made up of native Mahra residents, unlike the existing government forces, which are spread across various Yemeni cities.

 

Saudi Arabia has previously established camps and security checkpoints in different parts of Al-Mahra since its arrival in the region, sparking protests from local residents. Under public pressure, the kingdom was forced to gradually withdraw from the areas where it had set up camps, although it has maintained a presence at Al-Ghaydah airport

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The UAE, which entered Al-Mahra before Saudi Arabia, had also previously offered to fund and establish a military force, but the Mahra people rejected the proposal, halting both Saudi and Emirati ambitions.

 

The Yemeni Ministry of Defense, based in Aden, declined to comment to "Al-Mawqe Post" regarding this development. The Yemeni government similarly refused to provide any official statement, with one government official citing the sensitivity of the issue. However, information obtained by the publication indicates that there are indeed presidential directives for the recruitment of these forces. Additionally, Saudi Arabia, which wields significant influence over the Presidential Leadership Council, is reportedly pressuring for the formation of these units.

 

Residents of Al-Mahra governorate have expressed strong opposition to this initiative, viewing it as a potential catalyst for sectarianism and religious conflict within the community. In contrast, its proponents argue that it provides an opportunity to create a specialized force composed of local residents. Historically, prior to its integration into Yemen, Al-Mahra was an independent emirate allied with Britain, ruled by the Al-Afrar family. The emirate had its own army until it fell in 1967, when anti-colonial revolutionaries ousted the British and incorporated it into the newly formed People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

 

Among the prominent local voices denouncing the planned recruitment is Al-Mahra’s Deputy Governor for Youth Affairs, Badr Kalshat, who warned that such efforts could drag Al-Mahra into conflicts and entangle it in sectarian and religiously extreme military formations.

 

The opposition voices in Al-Mahra condemning these efforts by factions opposed to the presence of the Salafi movement have been notably subdued this time. This is particularly evident in the case of the Peaceful Sit-in Committee, which had led protests against Saudi presence in the province for several years. So far, no significant field activity or official statements have emerged from the committee regarding this issue.

 

Muslim Rafeet, head of security for the Mahra Sit-in Committee, said the committee strongly opposes the Salafi recruitment process and any operations conducted outside official state institutions. He accused the Salafi forces of serving foreign interests, undermining local security, and promoting extremist ideologies in comments to Al-Mahra TV.

 

Meanwhile, Emirati media has capitalized on reports of Saudi involvement in the impending recruitment, seeking to stir tension between Riyadh and local figures. The UAE-backed Al-Aarab newspaper, published in London, suggested that warnings about the recruitment were merely an attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood—an allusion to Yemen's Al-Islah party—to undermine Saudi Arabia.

 

This contradicts the reality in Al-Mahra, as the Al-Islah Party is one of the most prominent local forces supporting Saudi policy, particularly in Al-Mahra, and more generally in Yemen. The party's stance aligns significantly with the Salafi movement, making the handling of this issue a subject of media disputes and political finger-pointing.

 

The complexities surrounding the recruitment process appear highly sensitive, given that it is taking place in a border province with Oman. The Sultanate shares long-standing positive relations with the people of Al-Mahra, along with land and sea borders with Yemen. Oman holds a special status in the region, with deep-rooted familial and tribal ties between the two countries. The export of the Salafi movement to Oman's borders could provoke significant concern in Muscat, potentially reigniting tensions in the province and exposing underlying conflicts.

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