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### Viewing cable 09SANAA2230, YEMEN'S COUNTER TERRORISM UNIT STRETCHED THIN BY

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09SANAA2230 | 2009-12-17 12:12 | 2010-12-03 21:09 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Sanaa
Appears in these articles: www.spiegel.de

`

    VZCZCXRO9119
    RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR RUEHKUK RUEHTRO
    DE RUEHYN #2230/01 3511254
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    R 171254Z DEC 09
    FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3405
    INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
    RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

` `

    S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 002230

    SIPDIS
    NOFORN

    DEPT FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD AND INR JYAPHE

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2019
    TAGS: PTER MOPS PINS MASS PGOV YM
    SUBJECT: YEMEN'S COUNTER TERRORISM UNIT STRETCHED THIN BY
    WAR AGAINST HOUTHIS

    REF: A. SANAA 01995
    b. SANAA 02079
    c. SANAA 01669

    Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

    ¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY. As the sixth war against the Houthis
    continues to squeeze Yemen's conventional military, the ROYG
    has looked to its U.S. and U.K.-funded and trained
    counterterrorism forces to provide some relief to battered
    army forces. The Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) - trained to
    detect small terrorist cells and investigate and prevent
    terror attacks on civilian targets - is a poor tactical
    choice for use against a long-term domestic insurgency. The
    ROYG, desperate to defeat the Houthis at any cost, has
    largely ignored USG concerns regarding deployment of the CTU
    to Sa'ada. The CTU has been unable to go after genuine
    terrorist targets like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
    (AQAP) while it has been tied down in Sa'ada. CTU
    involvement in a ROYG operation against AQAP on the morning
    of December 17 is a welcome return to its core mission,
    although it remains to be seen if this was any more than a
    one-off occurrence. END SUMMARY.

    Signs of royg desperation in sa'ada
    -----------------------------------

    ¶2. (C) As the sixth war in Sa'ada, now in its fifth month,
    drags on in a tit-for-tat struggle between ROYG military
    forces and Houthi rebels, the ROYG has attempted to use its
    elite CT forces to provide needed extra muscle.xxxxx,
    told PolOff in late November that he felt his forces were
    being pulled into the Sa'ada conflict because of the
    perception that the CTU is made up of "super-men that can
    solve any problem and defeat anybody." (Note: CTU forces
    were initially sent to Sa'ada in July to investigate the
    kidnapping of a group of Western aid workers. Post assesses
    that the CTU was drawn into the Houthi conflict in early
    September. End Note.) Such a misperception of the CTU's
    capabilities and mission was hurting the unit, xxxxx added.
    During the U.S.-Yemen Joint Staff Talks hosted in Sana'a
    November 8-11, xxxxx publicly impressed upon Brigadier
    General Ali Dahan of the Yemen Special Operations Forces
    (YSOF), another elite military unit also involved in CT
    operations, and other senior Ministry of Defense (MOD)
    leadership the severity of the situation in Sa'ada and the
    toll it was taking on the CTU. He told Dahan, "You may not
    be feeling the hurt of this war, but the CTU is fighting in
    Sa'ada and is taking casualties." (COMMENT: xxxxx was angry
    with Dahan for stating that the YSOF was "ready and available
    for more training exercises with U.S. forces" while the CTU
    was being deployed in Sa'ada. He believes the YSOF should be
    doing more in Sa'ada, which would allow the CTU to return to
    its primary mission. END COMMENT.)

    ¶3. (S/NF) Increasingly desperate to defeat the Houthis, the
    ROYG continues to insist that fighting the Houthis is a
    legitimate component of CT operations, thus justifying the
    use of CTU forces in Sa'ada. The National Security Bureau's
    Colonel Akram al-Qassmi told PolOffs on December 9, "The war
    against the Houthis is not a distraction from the CT fight.
    It is the CT fight." xxxxx Despite the injection
    of CTU forces into the fight three months ago, the Sa'ada war
    drags on and, according to CTU leadership, the CTU is taking
    "heavy casualties" due to their lack of training for this
    type of warfare. At the urging of CTU leadership, the
    Supreme Security Council agreed to move all CTU forces (two
    platoons) out of Sa'ada on December 9. xxxxx confirmed that
    the MOI Regional Commander ordered elements of the CTU,
    believed to be one platoon, to remain in Sa'ada until Sa'ada
    City is cleared of Houthi fighters.

    Ct operations constrained due to sa'ada war
    -------------------------------------------

    ¶4. (S/NF) Following the return of one platoon to Sana'a, the
    CTU undertook its first CT operation against AQAP in four
    months on the morning of December 17. However, according to
    xxxxx deployment to Sa'ada has hurt the CTU's readiness
    capabilities. Ideally, the unit is primed for rapid response
    to any CT threat in and around Sana'a within 10 minutes. The

    Sanaa 00002230 002 of 002

    CTU is broken into four platoons which rotate every two
    weeks: one on leave, a second in training, a third on
    standby, and a fourth as a Quick Reaction Force (QRF). With
    one platoon in Sa'ada, and another on active duty in Sana'a,
    the CTU has no surge capacity. xxxxx said that the CTU's
    training and operational cycle has been disrupted by the
    Sa'ada war. "Since August, the QRF has been in Sa'ada,
    taking heavy casualties because they have been engaged in
    heavy fighting. We have only had a chance to send a relief
    team twice since the latest conflict started." He said that
    the use of USG-provided armored vehicles and humvees has
    "been fundamental in preventing casualties." (NOTE: Post has
    repeatedly questioned ROYG use of U.S. military equipment and
    U.S.-trained forces intended to combat AQAP in the war
    against the Houthi rebels. END NOTE.)

    ¶5. (S/NF) The CTU was established just six years ago at the
    urging of the USG and has received substantial funding and
    training from U.S. special operations forces and British
    conventional army trainers. Their training has focused on
    detecting and neutralizing the AQAP threat, not fighting a
    long-term, domestic insurgency. In particular, the CTU is
    predominantly trained for CT "direct action missions" in
    which they isolate an AQAP cell and capture its members based
    on specific intelligence. Referring to the guerilla warfare
    tactics the Houthis have been using against traditional ROYG
    military forces, xxxxx U.S. training in
    "unconventional warfare" and tactics used by the U.S. forces
    in "asymmetric warfare" of the type encountered in the
    mountains of Afghanistan, suggesting the CTU expects to
    continue to use its forces in Sa'ada.

    Comment
    -------

    ¶6. (S/NF) Bogged down in a seemingly unwinnable war that
    pits conventional forces against determined rebels, the ROYG
    has resorted to using its specialized CT units. Untrained to
    fight this type of conflict, the overstretched CTU has
    reportedly sustained significant casualties, missed training
    opportunities and been derailed from its principal mission:
    to combat AQAP. While U.S. concerns over diversion of troops
    and equipment have been acknowledged, they have clearly not
    resulted in a significant change of ROYG focus from the
    Houthis to AQAP. CTU deployment to Sa'ada, while a
    distraction, is not a crushing blow to all potential CT
    activities, as demonstrated by the December 17 CT operation.
    However, it remains to be seen if this indicates a balancing
    of priorities between the Houthi conflict and AQAP, or if it
    is simply a momentary return to the CTU's primary mission.
    End comment.
    Seche

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