South Yemen insurgency
The South Yemen insurgency was a series of protests and attacks on government forces in southern Yemen between 2009 and 2014. Although the violence was blamed on elements within the southern secessionist movement, leaders of the group maintained that their aims of independence were to be achieved through peaceful means, and claimed that attacks were from ordinary citizens in response to the government's provocative actions. The insurgency came amid the Shia insurgency in the country's north that was led by Houthi communities. Southern leaders led a brief, unsuccessful secession in 1994 following unification. Many of  them were involved in the secession movement. Southern separatist insurgents were active mainly in the area of former South Yemen but also in Ad Dali' Governorate, which was not a part of the independent southern state. After the outbreak of the Yemeni Civil War in late 2014, the separatists briefly ended their insurgency against the government in order to push back the Houthi offensives in southern Yemen. In April 2017, the breakaway Southern Transitional Council was announced, and southern separatists once again engaged in periodic clashes with Hadi-led forces in the context of the civil war. Background. In 1990 , North Yemen and South Yemen united into one country, but in 1994, South Yemeni army units staged an armed revolt against what they considered corrupt crony state rule by North Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh. The revolt however failed as Saleh enlisted Salafi and Jihadist forces to fight against Southern forces of the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, after 15 years, in 2009, prominent Southern Islamist leader Tariq al-Fadhli, who had fought for the Mujahideen in the Soviet–Afghan War, broke his alliance with President Saleh to join the secessionist Southern Movement. This gave new power to movement, in which  al-Fadhli became a prominent figure. That same month, on 28 April, a revolt in the South started, with massive demonstrations in most major towns. Insurgents. The political movement behind the so-called 'insurgency' is a group called the Southern Movement. Led by exiled South Yemeni leaders and opposition figures, this group calls for peaceful protests. However, their protests have recently often turned into riots, some with armed fighters. The insurgency has occasionally been linked by the Yemeni government to Islamist groups, including ex-military commanders and South-Yemeni tribes. South Yemen is home to several jihadist movements, some of  which are believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, most notably a group called the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army. Naser al-Wahishi the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula expressed support for the South Yemeni separatist movement. However leaders of the Southern Movement were quick to deny any links with al-Qaeda. Many believe that Saleh's government is using al-Qaeda as a means to win international support against insurgencies in the North and South. As a response to such accusations, Tariq al-Fadhli - one of the leaders of the southern movement - posted a video of himself  on YouTube raising the American flag with the national anthem over his compound in an attempt to openly distance himself from Al-Qaeda. There are many leaders within the movement, including Fadi Hassan Ahmed Baoum who is head of the Southern Movement's Supreme Council. He was arrested and later released by Yemeni authorities. Meanwhile, Tahir Tamah has been said to be behind the group's militant faction. Timeline. Post-Revolution (2012). The southern movement, like the Houthis rejected a GCC brokered deal between the GPC and Al-Islah and boycotted the February 21, 2012 presidential election leaving Abdrabbuh Mansur  Hadi as only candidate.