Yemen outlaws motorcycles in governorate under siege

Yemen outlaws motorcycles in governorate under siege The open road. The wind blowing through your hair. The sun sets over the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Abyan Delta -- Yemen’s most fertile valley. The Harley revs as you cruise down the coastal plain along the Aden Mukalla highway, past cotton and tobacco fields, orchards, fruit farms, clay houses, hot springs, a fish-canning factory and the Khanfar Mountain.

Authorities in Yemen’s Abyan Governorate, a growing stronghold for Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, have banned motorcycles from cities in the region’s urban centers.

"Using motorbikes in terrorist operations to assassinate intelligence officers and security personnel have been massively mounted over the past nine months in the province," San'a-based Yemeni Interior Ministry official told the Xinhua news agency.

The news, first reported in the pan-Arab London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, follows a series of recent assassinations by Al-Qa’ida militants throughout Abyan and will affect some 5,000 two-wheeled vehicles, according to local media. Militants on motorcycles have killed at least 30 Yemeni soldiers, intelligence officers and security personnel over the last three months alone, using the bikes to make a quick escape.

“Motorcycles are typically used by terrorists and insurgents to deliver weapons directly if its a suicide attack or to make a quick getaway,” Dr Theodore Karasik, Director for Research and Development at the Institute for Near East Gulf Military Analysis told The Media Line. “The banning of motorcycles is indicative of how the government, with help from US officers, is trying to cut down on the movements of Al-Qa’ida members and tribal members who support them.”