Iraq Will Soon Be Handed Over To The Antichrist (Revelation 13)

Analysis Battle for Mosul Will Determine Fate of ISIS and Iraq's Political Future 

How the fight for the city plays out will make Islamic State decide whether to persist with its current strategy or scatter its forces across the Middle East and operate like Al-Qaida.

Zvi Bar'el
25.02.2017 | 01:59

The battle for western Mosul is intended not only to liberate the city from the clutches of the Islamic State group, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared recently. It is also the battle that could be the turning point in ISIS' status in Iraq and the entire region.

When Mosul is completely freed, after 2.5 years of ISIS control, the organization will have to make a strategic decision, perhaps the most important in its brief history: Should it regroup in the areas it controls in northeastern Syria? Or should it start scattering its forces into other Arab countries and revert to Al-Qaida’s modus operandi – a method that relies on a structure of branches and cells, and drops the strategy of occupying territories?

According to the most recent estimates in Iraq, it seems that ISIS forces in Mosul number no more than 2,500 fighters (compared with earlier estimates that ranged from 5,000 to 7,000). The earlier estimates may have been erroneous due to intelligence difficulties. But it is more reasonable to assume that Islamic State has already thinned out its forces and transferred some to Syria.

At the same time, many fighters – mostly Iraqis – have dropped out of the organization; they have simply taken off their uniforms, hidden their weapons and become ordinary citizens.

Despite the lower ISIS numbers, the expectation is that the war in western Mosul will last for many weeks, if not months.

This is a difficult urban arena: Some 750,000 civilians live in crowded conditions, in narrow lanes amid dozens of neighborhoods. These make it difficult to wage an air or artillery war, and hamper the ability of armored vehicles to maneuver.

The Iraqi strategy, coordinated with the U.S. Army, is built on sending in many infantry soldiers and pushing ISIS into neighborhoods where it is easier to attack it from the air.

If the usual desired ratio between attacking and attacked forces is 5:1, in Mosul the Iraqi army is aiming for a ratio of 20:1. So, even if the number of Islamic State fighters stands at 2,000, the Iraqi force could number between 40,000 and 50,000 soldiers.

The Iraqi army, which is working together with local militias, does not have any great difficulty in achieving this numerical advantage, and the air cover at its disposal will be nearly unlimited. However, what remains to be seen is the nature of the fight ISIS will put up.

In eastern Mosul – which was liberated last month – the level of resistance was relatively muted. Even so, it still took three months of fighting to liberate that part of the city. From reports on civilian websites, it appears that the organization is well prepped for the second part of the battle: It has reportedly set up high concrete roadblocks; laid mines in hundreds of locations; placed sniper positions along essential routes; and stockpiled shoulder–launched anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft machine guns.

The major concern is about the use of civilians as human shields, which could lead to an unprecedented number of dead. However, there is also the possibility that ISIS will not fight to the last bullet, and will instead withdraw its forces in early stages of the fighting.

To allow for this possibility, the Iraqi army has started using intensive psychological warfare, including radio and television broadcasts, distributing photos of slain ISIS fighters lying in the streets, and disseminating information about the magnitude of the deployment expected to enter the city.

In the meantime, it is not clear which of the options the Islamic State leadership will choose.

The actual war inside the city has yet to begin. However, on its northern and southern outskirts, the Iraqi army has successfully taken some important strategic positions. According to statements by high-ranking Iraqi commanders, the army is expected to enter the city within a week.

But as the end of the military campaign draws nearer, concerns are increasing about happens the day afterward.

The inhabitants of the western part of the city are extremely frightened by events in the eastern part, in which there were many cases of soldiers abusing civilians. There are also reports of accounts being settled with people suspected of having collaborated with Islamic State. Many civilians are trying to flee from western Mosul, but are afraid to return to the eastern part because of unbridled rampaging by militia members and even soldiers from elite units.

Last week, the separatist Shi’ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced his plan for stabilizing Mosul after its liberation, thereby forcing the Iraqi government to start examining the questions of the future of the city and surrounding area.

In Sadr's 29-point plan, he stresses the need to preserve the unity of the state; to bring about a national reconciliation between all religious and ethnic groups; and make law and order subject to the authority of the state, not local militias. He also demands that all foreign forces leave after the war ends – not only the Americans, but also the Iranians and others. He also calls for establishing international bodies to supervise the rehabilitation of the city and raise the tremendous amounts of money needed for this.

This fascinating document even proposes putting together delegations of heads of tribes, which will move from southern Iraq to Mosul in order to bring the different groups closer together. Sadr is demanding that the Shi’ite militias (which operate under the auspices of Iran) are absorbed into the regular Iraqi army, in order to prevent a situation in which there are a number of different armies operating in the region.

If the retaking of Mosul will, to a large extent, determine the fate of Islamic State, the way the city operates after the war will determine Iraq's political future. Thus far, apart from Sadr’s document, no orderly plan has been formulated that clarifies the arrangements for rehabilitation, sources of funding and, above all, the division of control within the city.

In comparison to Syria, where at least one world power – Russia – is able to dictate at least the structure of government, dealing with these questions in Iraq will fall exclusively on the shoulders of the government. And although it is showing unity and determination in the war against ISIS, it has yet to succeed in enlisting the trust of the Sunnis.

The Antichrist Unifies Iraq

A Historic Settlement of Iraq's Differences

Stratton

Summary

The fight for Mosul is far from finished, but Iraqi politicians are already well into planning what will come next for their country. Though organizational and funding challenges could push Iraq's scheduled 2017 parliamentary elections off into the next year, the country's political parties have begun to assemble their blocs. The incipient coalition-building efforts have been unusually peaceable, unwittingly keeping with the loose framework that Ammar al-Hakim, head of Iraq's comprehensive Shiite coalition, the National Alliance bloc, laid out in October. Known as the "historic settlement," the plan provides a loose framework to reconcile Iraq's various religious sects and political factions once the country is rid of the Islamic State, emphasizing compromise and renouncing violence. However optimistic the historic settlement may seem, Iraq's competing parties are apparently heeding it, and they have so far limited themselves to verbal battles rather than enlisting the help of militias. Still, recent conflicts among Shiite and Kurdish political parties hint at the rivalries that will come to light as election season approaches.

Analysis

Iraq has much at stake in the next round of legislative elections, regardless of when it takes place. For one thing, the Iraqi people, weary after years of violence and upheaval, have pinned their hopes on the next vote to help usher in a new era for the country. For another, the elections will be a measure of Iraq's progress in restoring order after the bitter battle against the Islamic State. Legislative elections have long functioned as an indicator of the country's stability. Under Saddam Hussein's rule, Shiites and minority communities, including Kurds, were sidelined from the electoral process, which was neither free nor fair. After Saddam's administration fell in 2003, turnout among the Sunni population dropped — to just 2 percent in Anbar province during the 2005 vote — as competing militias and al Qaeda attacked Sunni voters in an effort to discredit the elections. Though conditions improved in the 2010 and 2014 elections, neither vote was free of sectarian violence. Facing the momentous task of rebuilding the war-torn country, Iraq's government knows that the success of the next elections will be essential to prove its stability to the international community. To that end, al-Hakim has taken his pacific plan on a tour of the Middle East to try to convince Iraq's regional allies of the country's future prospects and win financial support for the costly reconstruction process ahead.

The Shifting National Alliance

But already, Iraqi parties' differences are starting to show. Though the National Alliance is still Iraq's main Shiite coalition, its constituent parties are competing for dominance within the bloc. Vice President Nouri al-Maliki recently discovered that his party, State of Law, is losing ground in areas where it used to command the most power. During a recent tour of Maysan, Basra and Dhi Qar provinces in southern Iraq, the former prime minister and founder of State of Law faced angry protesters, evidence of al-Maliki's waning influence in the area. In the 2014 elections, by contrast, State of Law handily won in these provinces, securing between 32 and 40 percent of the vote in each location. Al-Maliki's hostile reception is none too surprising, even in his former electoral strongholds. After all, he is best known today for presiding over Iraq during the Islamic State's incursion into the country; before that, many Iraqis associated him with corruption and empowering Shiites at the expense of the country's minority populations.

Nevertheless, he is still a powerful figure in Iraq's political system, and his influence is far-reaching. Al-Maliki used his clout in the judicial system to regain his position as vice president after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's anti-corruption campaigns swept him from office in 2015. Along with State of Law, which still dominates Iraq's 328-seat parliament with 92 seats, al-Maliki also heads the Reform Front party, albeit unofficially. Earlier in the year, that party spearheaded efforts to unseat prominent ministers from Iraq's government.

For other Shiite parties in the bloc — especially those led by Muqtada al-Sadr — State of Law's loss could be their gain. As al-Maliki's reputation has suffered in recent years, al-Sadr, whose supporters booed the vice president during his trip to southern Iraq, has steadily amassed influence despite his controversial past. Although the Shiite parties stand to benefit from banding together to pass legislation, they will have a hard time uniting their respective constituent pools given the deep mistrust between them.

Deepening Divides in Iraqi Kurdistan

A similar factional rivalry threatens to limit Kurdish parties' gains in the upcoming elections. Iraqi Kurdistan's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is finding itself increasingly at odds with the autonomous region's other political groups. Its main rival party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, for instance, has taken Baghdad's side in a dispute over the Kurdistan Regional Government's oil profit-sharing agreement with Iraq. In addition, a leader from the Gorran party recently criticized the KDP for its treatment of the peshmerga, provoking a backlash from the ruling party. As the rifts between the Kurdish parties widen, Arbil's internal divisions are becoming more stark than its differences with Baghdad.

In the runup to Iraq's next round of elections, rivalries will continue to emerge between the country's political parties, and alliances will keep shifting. But political infighting is a dramatic departure from sectarian violence — and for the Iraqi people, a welcome one. The coalition-building process, along with the preparations for the legislative vote, will help determine whether Iraq will continue reconciling its differences politically or will fall back into its pattern of sectarian conflicts.

Antichrist Works On His Martyred Father's Shrine (Revelation 13:11)

AhlulBayt News Agency - ABNA - Shia News

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Senior Iraqi official Muqtada Al-Sadr supervises the work on the shrine of Shahid Mohamed AL-Sadr and his sons.

Under direct supervision by Iraqi cleric Sayed Muqtada Al-Sadr, the work on the shrine of Shahid Mohamed Al-Sadr and his sons continues, to improve the place into a more fitting shrine, as the Muqtada Al-Sadr took some of the work by his own hands.

Iraq's Al-Sadr confirmed, the continued work on the pure wali shrine to recognize the obstacles, and developing the administrative side.

Antichrist Tries To Unify The Muslim Nations

Iraqi Shia cleric Al-Sadr implores Egypt, Saudi Arabia to strive for unity with Iran

Daily News Egypt

Prominent Iraqi Shia cleric, politician, and militia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr has asked Egypt and Saudi Arabia to protect holy places from extremists, in a statement issued on Saturday evening on the occasion of the prophet Muhammed’s birthday.

“We, in Iraq, provide heavy protection of holy places in various cities across the state. It is a great honour for us to carry out this mission,” he said, referring to holy sites in Najaf and Karbala cities.

In the statement on his Facebook page, he implored Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran to strive for Islamic unity—something that he personally supports and seeks.

Relations between Sunni and Shia Muslim-majority countries tend to be fraught with tensions, despite attempts, and sometimes empty words, by politicians to placate hostilities. Whichever sect is the minority in a country is often treated like second-class citizens.

One of the most renowned religious destinations for Shia Muslims in Egypt, which has a Sunni majority, is Al-Hussein Mosque. The state has restricted Shia residents from coming to this mosque as they please and has closed it on religious occasions affiliated to their sect, citing security concerns.

Al-Sadr called on the Egyptian government to protect this mosque, open it to visitors, and eliminate extremists from the area. He also reached out to Al-Azhar University with the idea of engaging in religious dialogue between scholars from various Islamic sects and branches.

The cleric’s statement carried clear significance to the ongoing dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran—the latter is backing the Houthis in Yemen while Saudi is supporting the government in the bloody conflict.

He made a bold suggestion that, rather than fighting the Houthis, Saudi Arabia should send its forces in Yemen to launch war on Israel and liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli occupation.

Al-Sadr then asked the Saudi government to protect the prophet’s grave in Medina from the “terrorist ideologies that are dominant in the country”, saying that these tendencies are “abnormal”. He offered his contribution and cooperation to protecting the gravesite.

In April 2013, during former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s reign, the ministries of foreign affairs and civil aviation set regulations restricting the activities of Iranian tourists in Egypt. They were limited to set touristic sites such as the ancient city of Luxor and Red Sea resort areas like Sharm El-Sheikh.

During this time the religious arm of the Al-Nour political party, the Salafi Call, warned of a “Shia tide” in Egypt and called for a ban on any contact with Shia Muslims.

Even after the ouster of Morsi, Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa refused to allow Shia Muslims to celebrate Ashura inside mosques, calling on authorities to implement this decision.

How This Mosque Saved The Antichrist

  
Centuries-old Kufa mosque still holds religious, political significance

KUFA, Iraq — The Great Mosque of Kufa (aka al-Sahla) is located in the city of Kufa (97 miles south of Baghdad) and is considered one of the earliest mosques in the Islamic world. Built in 638, it was the birthplace of the Shiite religious and political ideology.

Throughout Iraq’s tumultuous modern history, the mosque’s role changed according to the nature of the Iraqi regime. During the era of former President Saddam Hussein who fought political Islam, the Kufa mosque’s political significance was curbed, only to prosper after the fall of this regime in 2003 in the aftermath of the US invasion. The Kufa mosque was always an intellectual hub and a political starting point, but it became a center to oppose the US invasion of Iraq, then a platform for protests and sermons demanding the eradication of corruption.

The history of the Kufa mosque still resonates with the ideas that saw the light within its walls. In addition to being a place of worship, the mosque remained for decades a platform for political opposition and mobilizing the people.

In 1999, the Saddam regime closed down the mosque in an attempt to suspend the Friday prayers and gatherings attended by large numbers of Shiite Muslims, under the leadership of cleric Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, who was assassinated by the regime on his way back from praying at the Kufa mosque before it was closed in February 1999.

Following the fall of the Baath regime in 2003, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, chose the mosque to deliver his first speech following the US invasion. Since then, Shiite parties have been competing to stand on the mosque’s minbar (platform), but Sadr kept a firm grip on it, using it to escalate his attack on the US occupation.

Ever since, the mosque has become a platform for rivalries between Shiites, but Sadr clung to it because the supporters of his father (Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr) would attend the political and religious events in this mosque and meet him there. Besides, the mosque has religious and historic importance for Shiites.

In 2004, US forces besieged Sadr, who retreated to the mosque, preventing a possible raid on it.
Aware of the mosque’s significance for Shiite Muslims, Sadr kept delivering his Friday speeches with political purposes from Kufa mosque’s minbar.

On a visit to the mosque, Al-Monitor interviewed cleric Abul-Hasan Yaseri who performs his Friday prayer there, coming from his hometown of Babil, 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. Speaking about the significance of the mosque, Yaseri said, “Muslim Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib [599-661] said that praying at the Kufa mosque is rewarded as 1,000 prayers performed at other mosques.”

“The mosque is a place of great holiness for Muslims, especially Shiites,” Yaseri added, stressing “the importance of keeping political and party activities away from this historical mosque of special religious and historical significance.”

According to an information plate at one of the mosque’s entrances, the place can accommodate 50,000 people and stretches across an area of 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles), with a 20-meter-tall (65-foot) perimeter wall supported by round-shaped pillars.

The Kufa mosque has a wealth of religious and historical remnants and monuments as evidence to the site’s historical significance. Yaseri pointed to an elevated place from which “the [Great] Flood originated, submerging Earth, during the time of the Prophet Noah.”

“It was in the mosque’s courtyard that the famous Noah’s Ark was built to save all living species on earth,” Yaseri explained.

On the tour, Al-Monitor came across several symbols relating to historical religious figures, including the shrines of Prophets Abraham and Adam at the center of the courtyard. Furthermore, several historical sources indicate that Prophet Muhammad stopped by the Kufa mosque to pray before ascending to heaven to speak with God.

In one of this vast mosque’s corners, dozens of visitors gathered at the place where Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, who is also Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, was fatally wounded by a sword.

Living nearby the mosque, historian Makki Sultani spoke to Al-Monitor about what may be considered the most significant part of the mosque’s history. Sultani referred to the halls surrounding the mosque’s courtyard, saying, “This historical edifice saw the inception of the first teachings of the Shiite Jafari sect at the hands of Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq [702-765], who conducted his Islamic teachings there.”

In regard to the scientific significance of the place, Sultani said, “It was here that the principle of Arabic nahu [grammar] was established by Abu al-Aswad al-Du’ali. Imam Ali himself also taught Islamic jurisprudence at this mosque.”

Sultani mentioned some of the incidents he has witnessed: “In 1958, former President Abdul Salam Mohammed Arif landed with his helicopter in the mosque’s courtyard, leading to death and injury of many as a result of the ensuing stampede.”

“The late cleric Muhammad al-Sadr held his Friday prayers as well as the large demonstrations he used to call for here. During the reign of Saddam, this mosque hosted the only platform in Iraq where the anti-regime movement was public,” Sultani added.

Sultani stressed, “Members of the opposition used to hold their gatherings and activities at the mosque, which led to several raids by security forces.”

Concerning the great significance of the Kufa mosque in the minds of Shiites, the head of Najaf’s provincial council, Khudayr Jabouri, told Al-Monitor, “What distinguishes the Kufa mosque is its proximity to the ruins of the Emirate Palace, the caliph’s palace during Imam Ali’s rule, as well as to Imam Ali’s family dwelling, which is still there. The provincial council is aware of the necessity of investing in this historical and religious site to promote religious tourism.”

Jabouri added, “The provincial council has been carrying renovation plans that include the mosque’s external gates, improving services, covering the mosque’s floor with stone and natural marble, and renovating Imam Ali’s mihrab [niche], to host the thousands of pilgrims who come here every month.”

Obama And Babylon Collapse To Pressure In Yemen (Ezekiel 17)

U.S. pulling troops from Yemen after mosque attacks

An injured girl reacts as she is carried by a man out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa, Yemen, March 20, 2015. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

Last Updated Mar 21, 2015 12:11 PM EDT

A day after suicide bombers attacked a pair of mosques in the Yemeni capital, the U.S. military decided to pull the remainder of its troops out of the rapidly fragmenting nation, CBS News confirmed Saturday.

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the withdrawal of about 100 special operations troops would be completed within hours.

Martin reports that no direct threat prompted the decision. Instead, it was the overall deterioration of the country.

Friday’s blasts ripped through worshippers and killed 137 people in the deadliest assault yet targeting Shiite rebels who have taken over large parts of the country. At least 13 children were among the dead.

A purported affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the bombings, which also wounded 357 people - raising the alarming possibility the extremist group has expanded its presence to Yemen after already setting up a branch in Libya. Earlier this week, the group claimed responsibility for a bloody attack on Western tourists in Tunisia that authorities said was carried out by militants trained in Libya.

If the claim is true – and the U.S. expressed skepticism – Friday’s attacks would be the first by ISIS’ group in Yemen, adding a frightening new layer to the country’s turmoil.

Shiite rebels known as Houthis have taken over the capital, Sanaa, and nine of the country’s 21 provinces over the past six months, raising fears of a civil war tinged with sectarianism. The government of the internationally backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has fled to the southern port city of Aden.

Yemen is already home to the most powerful branch of the al Qaeda network, which has been battling the Houthis for months. On Friday, al Qaeda militants seized control of a southern provincial capital, al-Houta, in the group’s most dramatic grab of territory in years. However, it denied carrying out the mosque bombings, citing instructions from the terror network’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, not to strike mosques or markets.

Friday’s blasts left scenes of bloody devastation in the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques, located across town from each other in Sanaa. Both mosques are controlled by the Shiite Houthis, but they are also frequented by Sunni worshippers.

Images from the scene showed a number of children among the dead. In footage from the al-Hashoosh mosque, screaming volunteers were seen using bloodied blankets to carry away victims as a small child lay among the dead on the mosque floor.

“Blood was running like a river,” said one survivor, Mohammed al-Ansi, who said he was thrown six feet by one of the blasts at the Hashoosh mosque, where the floor was strewn with body parts.

The mosques were targeted by two suicide bombers each during midday prayers, when large crowds turn out to attend weekly sermons. The state news agency SABA put the toll at 137 dead and 357 wounded. Among the dead were 13 children, according to the Interior Ministry. A prominent Shiite cleric, al-Murtada al-Mansouri, and two senior Houthi leaders were also killed, the rebel-owned Al-Masirah TV channel said.

It also reported that a fifth suicide bomb attack on another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada – a Houthi stronghold.

In the Badr mosque, the first bomber was caught by guards searching worshippers at the gate, where he managed to detonate his device. In the ensuing panic, a second bomber entered the mosque and blew himself up amid the crowd, according to SABA.

“I fell on the ground and when I regained consciousness I found myself lying in a lake of blood,” one survivor, Ahmed al-Gabri, told The Associated Press. Two worshippers next to him were killed in the explosions and another died when one of the mosque’s glass chandeliers fell on him, al-Gabri said.

Another survivor, Sadek al-Harithi, said the explosions were like “an earthquake where I felt the ground split and swallow everyone.”

If Friday’s bombings were carried out by ISIS supporters, it could be intended as a dramatic signal to al Qaeda, the group’s rival – effectively a challenge over turf. That raises the possibility of intra-jihadi fighting as the two compete for recruits by showing who can unleash the worst bloodshed.

In its claim of responsibility, an alleged ISIS affiliate calling itself “Sanaa Province” warned of an “upcoming flood” of attacks targeting the Houthi rebels. “The soldiers of the Islamic State … will not rest until we have uprooted” the Houthis, it said. The claim could not be independently confirmed and did not give concrete proof of ISIS involvement.

The statement was posted on the same web bulletin board where the ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s deadly attack on a museum in Tunisia.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. had seen no indications of an operational link between ISIS and Friday’s attacks. He said the U.S. was investigating to see whether the ISIS branch in Yemen has the command-and-control structure in place to substantiate its claim of responsibility.

Earnest said it was plausible that ISIS was falsely claiming responsibility. “It does appear that these kinds of claims are often made for a perception that it benefits their propaganda efforts,” Earnest said.

Late Friday, Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council, said the U.S condemns the attacks and also condemns airstrikes Thursday that targeted the Yemeni president. The airstrikes by forces loyal to Yemen’s former president missed his palace and Hadi was unharmed.

In recent months, there have been several online statements by individual Yemeni militants declaring allegiance to ISIS. Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, formally accepted their oaths and declared a “province” of ISIS in Yemen in November.

He and his deputies in Iraq have vowed to strike against the Houthis in Yemen. That has raised questions whether direct operational links have also arisen. For example, in Libya, where ISIS also declared official “provinces,” fighters and officials are known to have been sent from the group’s core to build the local branch.

It also has fomented a rivalry with al Qaeda, with ISIS leaders mocking the terror network for failing to stop Houthi advances in Yemen. Al Qaeda has denounced the ISIS declaration of a caliphate in areas of Iraq and Syria under its control and accuses the group of “driving a wedge” among jihadis.

In a further sign of the country’s chaos, al Qaeda’s branch of the country took control of the southern city of al-Houta on Friday, Yemeni security officials said. Al Qaeda militants driving pickup trucks and flying black flags swept through the city, which is the capital of Lahj province. They took over the main security barracks, the governor’s office, and the intelligence headquarters, which houses prisons with al Qaeda detainees, the officials said.

Most of the security forces in the city – loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh – surrendered to the militants without resistance. The militants killed 21 members of the security forces who resisted at the governor’s office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.