More than 1,000 Yemeni men went to Iraq to fight jihad during 2003 to 2006, most of them during 2006, and around 150 were killed, a local newspaper reported on Monday.The Al Tajamo weekly paper said that 70 to 75 per cent of the men went to Iraq from Yemen while the remainder went there from other countries. Most of them were young, under 20, and were influenced by extremist religious discourse.
The Al Hekma Charitable Association which is based in Aden, Sanaa and Abyan helped the young men go to Iraq for jihad, the paper said. The Al Hekma association has denied the claim.
The paper said also that at least two of the men had been recently handed over to the Yemeni government from Egypt and Syria where they were arrested.
The paper mentioned the name of one of them, Wadee Al Dawlah, 25, and said the other was from the Bait Al Ramah family, and that both were from Jaar, Abyan province, south of the country. The families of the two men are waiting for the release of their sons despite them being handed to Yemen three months ago, according to the paper. The security authorities declined to comment on the report which it said was based on sources close to the men's families and also on security sources.