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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Arabic: تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, romanized: Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit. 'Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula'), or AQAP is a Sunni Islamist militant organization which seeks to overthrow the Yemeni government and establish the Islamic Emirate of Yemen. Part of the al-Qaeda network, the group is based and primarily active in Yemen, while also conducting operations in Saudi Arabia. It is considered the most active of al-Qaeda's affiliates that emerged after the weakening of central leadership.
Established in 2009 as a merger between al-Qaeda in Yemen and al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the group took advantage of the 2011 Yemeni Revolution to seize and establish several emirates in southern Yemen, including in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan governorate. After being driven out through a government offensive in 2012, the group returned to an insurgent campaign rather than holding territory. AQAP would again capitalize on political turmoil in the country when the Yemeni civil war broke out in 2014. AQAP would reach its territorial peak in 2015, with the group seizing much of southern Hadhramaut governorate, including its capital Mukalla, recapturing their emirates in the south, and establishing a presence across multiple fronts in the civil war against the Houthis, most prominently in Aden, al-Bayda governorate and Taiz. Its strength has since waned due to internal struggles and operations waged against them by multiple parties in the civil war, as well as through an ongoing drone campaign by the United States which has killed many of its senior leaders and members.
In 2011, AQAP created Ansar al-Sharia (Arabic: جماعة أنصار الشريعة, Jamā‘at Anṣār ash-Sharī‘ah, "Group of the Helpers of the Sharia") as a subsidiary organization which would operate exclusively within Yemen. The group was created in order to appeal to youth and their issues within only Yemen and to distance themselves from the reputation attributed to the pan-Islamist al-Qaeda. It was Ansar al-Sharia which established various emirates across southern Yemen, though despite its nominal independence the group is widely understood as being a rebrand or direct extension of AQAP. In addition to its activities within the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP has conducted several high-profile attacks in the Western world such as the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in 2009, the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting, and the 2019 Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE and several other countries.
In the aftermath of the Soviet-Afghan war, President of the Republic of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh utilized thousands of Yemeni former mujahideen to fight for the Yemen Arab Republic during the Yemeni civil war of 1994, and to neutralize southern secessionists after it. A group of Yemenis who had trained under Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan formed Islamic Jihad in Yemen, which operated from 1990 to 1994. Other such al-Qaeda affiliated groups included the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY).
On 12 October 2000, two AQY suicide bombers drove a rubber dinghy loaded with explosives into the side of the USS Cole while it was docked at the Port of Aden, blowing a hole in the side of the ship and killing 17 members of the crew, as well as injuring 40. This same tactic was used on 6 October 2002, when the MV Limburg was bombed while approaching the Mina al-Dabah port, killing 1 crew member and wounding 12.
After the September 11 attacks, Saleh was heavily pressured by the United States into cracking down on al-Qaeda groups in the country. Saleh obliged and agreed to coordinated several operations with the U.S. to defeat al-Qaeda, such as with a CIA drone strike on 3 November 2002 which killed AQY leader Abu Ali al-Harithi in Marib governorate. By the end of 2003, AQY and other al-Qaeda affiliates were significantly weakened. In February 2006, 23 al-Qaeda members escaped imprisonment in Sana'a through digging a 140-metre long tunnel. The escapees would end up rebuilding al-Qaeda's footprint within the country over the next few years. Al-Qaeda maintained a presence in Yemen, evident by multiple high-profile attacks in the country such as the 2007 Marib car bombing and the 2008 attack on the United States embassy in Sana'a.
After initial success through early operations such as the 2003 Riyadh bombings, murder of Paul Marshall Johnson Jr. in 2004, 2004 Khobar attack, and the 2005 Qatar theatre bombing, al-Qaeda of Saudi Arabia's remnants had been forced to flee to Yemen by late 2008 due to extreme pressure by the Saudi government. Al-Qaeda of Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda in Yemen merged in January 2009 to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nasir al-Wuhayshi, leader of the Yemeni branch, was confirmed to be the first emir of AQAP by Ayman al-Zawahiri.
According to CTC Westpoint, Salafi-jihadism has been the unifying ideology of AQAP despite differences in politics, generations and overall goals. AQAP seeks to create to expel Western presence and influences in the Arabian Peninsula and to establish an Islamic emirate within Yemen. The group declares that the government of Yemen is a secular and "apostate" entity which must be overthrown and replaced by an Islamic government which adheres to their interpretation of sharia law. They also argue that the Yemeni government is a puppet state of America, which secretly governs the country through their embassy in Sana'a. AQAP emphasizes that jihad is the answer to the issues of the Yemeni people, calling on sheiks, preachers and tribal leader to endorse jihad against the government and declare it illegitimate. The group operates upon a gradualist approach in order to fulfil this goal, prioritizing the establishment of acceptance amongst local Yemenis before gaining popular support among the people, and then willingness from the populace to defend AQAP-held territory. This formula would be appropriated across multiple 'emirates' across Yemen, with the eventual goal of unification in the form of a caliphate, allowing them to use Yemen as a launching pad for international attacks and operations.
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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Arabic: تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, romanized: Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit. 'Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula'), or AQAP is a Sunni Islamist militant organization which seeks to overthrow the Yemeni government and establish the Islamic Emirate of Yemen. Part of the al-Qaeda network, the group is based and primarily active in Yemen, while also conducting operations in Saudi Arabia. It is considered the most active of al-Qaeda's affiliates that emerged after the weakening of central leadership.
Established in 2009 as a merger between al-Qaeda in Yemen and al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, the group took advantage of the 2011 Yemeni Revolution to seize and establish several emirates in southern Yemen, including in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan governorate. After being driven out through a government offensive in 2012, the group returned to an insurgent campaign rather than holding territory. AQAP would again capitalize on political turmoil in the country when the Yemeni civil war broke out in 2014. AQAP would reach its territorial peak in 2015, with the group seizing much of southern Hadhramaut governorate, including its capital Mukalla, recapturing their emirates in the south, and establishing a presence across multiple fronts in the civil war against the Houthis, most prominently in Aden, al-Bayda governorate and Taiz. Its strength has since waned due to internal struggles and operations waged against them by multiple parties in the civil war, as well as through an ongoing drone campaign by the United States which has killed many of its senior leaders and members.
In 2011, AQAP created Ansar al-Sharia (Arabic: جماعة أنصار الشريعة, Jamā‘at Anṣār ash-Sharī‘ah, "Group of the Helpers of the Sharia") as a subsidiary organization which would operate exclusively within Yemen. The group was created in order to appeal to youth and their issues within only Yemen and to distance themselves from the reputation attributed to the pan-Islamist al-Qaeda. It was Ansar al-Sharia which established various emirates across southern Yemen, though despite its nominal independence the group is widely understood as being a rebrand or direct extension of AQAP. In addition to its activities within the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP has conducted several high-profile attacks in the Western world such as the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in 2009, the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting, and the 2019 Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE and several other countries.
In the aftermath of the Soviet-Afghan war, President of the Republic of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh utilized thousands of Yemeni former mujahideen to fight for the Yemen Arab Republic during the Yemeni civil war of 1994, and to neutralize southern secessionists after it. A group of Yemenis who had trained under Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan formed Islamic Jihad in Yemen, which operated from 1990 to 1994. Other such al-Qaeda affiliated groups included the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY).
On 12 October 2000, two AQY suicide bombers drove a rubber dinghy loaded with explosives into the side of the USS Cole while it was docked at the Port of Aden, blowing a hole in the side of the ship and killing 17 members of the crew, as well as injuring 40. This same tactic was used on 6 October 2002, when the MV Limburg was bombed while approaching the Mina al-Dabah port, killing 1 crew member and wounding 12.
After the September 11 attacks, Saleh was heavily pressured by the United States into cracking down on al-Qaeda groups in the country. Saleh obliged and agreed to coordinated several operations with the U.S. to defeat al-Qaeda, such as with a CIA drone strike on 3 November 2002 which killed AQY leader Abu Ali al-Harithi in Marib governorate. By the end of 2003, AQY and other al-Qaeda affiliates were significantly weakened. In February 2006, 23 al-Qaeda members escaped imprisonment in Sana'a through digging a 140-metre long tunnel. The escapees would end up rebuilding al-Qaeda's footprint within the country over the next few years. Al-Qaeda maintained a presence in Yemen, evident by multiple high-profile attacks in the country such as the 2007 Marib car bombing and the 2008 attack on the United States embassy in Sana'a.
After initial success through early operations such as the 2003 Riyadh bombings, murder of Paul Marshall Johnson Jr. in 2004, 2004 Khobar attack, and the 2005 Qatar theatre bombing, al-Qaeda of Saudi Arabia's remnants had been forced to flee to Yemen by late 2008 due to extreme pressure by the Saudi government. Al-Qaeda of Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda in Yemen merged in January 2009 to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nasir al-Wuhayshi, leader of the Yemeni branch, was confirmed to be the first emir of AQAP by Ayman al-Zawahiri.
According to CTC Westpoint, Salafi-jihadism has been the unifying ideology of AQAP despite differences in politics, generations and overall goals. AQAP seeks to create to expel Western presence and influences in the Arabian Peninsula and to establish an Islamic emirate within Yemen. The group declares that the government of Yemen is a secular and "apostate" entity which must be overthrown and replaced by an Islamic government which adheres to their interpretation of sharia law. They also argue that the Yemeni government is a puppet state of America, which secretly governs the country through their embassy in Sana'a. AQAP emphasizes that jihad is the answer to the issues of the Yemeni people, calling on sheiks, preachers and tribal leader to endorse jihad against the government and declare it illegitimate. The group operates upon a gradualist approach in order to fulfil this goal, prioritizing the establishment of acceptance amongst local Yemenis before gaining popular support among the people, and then willingness from the populace to defend AQAP-held territory. This formula would be appropriated across multiple 'emirates' across Yemen, with the eventual goal of unification in the form of a caliphate, allowing them to use Yemen as a launching pad for international attacks and operations.