[14/June/2011]
ABYAN, June 14 (Saba)- Armed groups referred to as part of sleeper cells affiliated with al-Qaeda have carried out armed robbery and acts of plundering at the Agricultural Research Station in Al-Kawd area, Abyan province.

The station's general director Khudur Atrush told Saba that outlawed armed groups had perpetrated this crime and wrought havoc in the facility built 60 years ago and considered to be the very first agricultural research platform in the Gulf region.

"The station's guards opposed resistance to these armed terrorist groups to protect the station. However, the absurd behaviour of the armed assailants - who are part of al-Qaeda sleeper cells - has suddenly manifested itself in light of the recent developments witnessed in the country", Atrush further noted.

‘’Carrying weapons and mortar shells, the gunmen took control of the station before plundering its content, including cars, agricultural equipment, water pumps and other laboratory and field hardware, along with various pieces of furniture such as tables, chairs, sets of drawers, air conditioners, fridges, doors, windows, and even fans and electricity poles".

"This armed, aggressive and absurd act has nothing to do with the slogan of change that the Yemeni street has been raising. What happened is rather a burial of the historic legacy of Al-Kawd's Agricultural Research Station which is regarded as an asset for the country and the citizens alike. This institution cannot be the property of people led astray or seeking to access to power at any cost, even by carrying out bloodshed, manslaughter, acts of plundering and armed robbery", Atrush added.

According to him, the station is dedicated to scientific and agricultural research, improving agricultural production, and achieving food security.

The station's general director also qualified the attack as a cowardly one, reflecting a conspiracy hatched against the homeland born on 22 May 1990, while stressing that the Yemeni researchers are capable of re-operating the research centre as soon as possible.

YA

Saba