Bad Rumblings from the South

Protests spread, and a soldier is killed as a checkpoint is attacked. The attack was apparently led my MPs. Here’s a quote.

The (official)sources said that two members of parliament were leading the armed group that attacked a check point between Al Dhale’e and Lahj: “An armed gang of saboteurs led by the socialist MPs Nasser Al Khubaji, Salah Al Shanfari and Shalal Ali Shaye’e attacked a check point at Habeel Al Raidah between Al Dhale’e and Lahj and fired at the security men killing one and injuring 14 others including four citizens.”

Both the violence and the rhetoric contain dangerous echoes of 1994. As we’ve mentioned before here, and has been talked about elsewhere, the north and south had essentially a shotgun marriage, and it has been a fairly abusive one at that. It was never a comfortable fit, and now that illusory union seems to be slipping away. It isn’t too late to back down, but history teaches us that these spirals are increasingly difficult to reverse. We’ll do some more in-depth analysis on the marriage soon.