The Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen is an ongoing armed conflict between the Yemeni government, the United States and their allies, and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Yemen. It was formerly a part of the Global War on Terrorism.
Government crackdown against al-Qaeda cells began in 2001, escalating steadily until 14 January 2010, when Yemen declared open war on al-Qaeda. In addition to battling al-Qaeda across several provinces, Yemen was forced to contend with a Shia insurgency in the north and militant separatists in the south. Fighting with al-Qaeda escalated further during the course of the 2011 Yemeni revolution, with Jihadists seizing most of the Abyan Governorate and declaring it an Emirate. A second wave of violence began in early 2012, with militants claiming territory across the southwest amid heavy combat with government forces.
On 16 September 2014, a full-scale civil war erupted after Houthi fighters stormed Sana'a and ousted interim President Hadi, fracturing the Yemeni government between the UN recognized government of President Hadi and the Houthis' newly formed Supreme Political Council. The full-scale civil war led to a rise of Islamist groups (Al-Qaeda, ISIS), insurgencies (Houthis), and call for separation of South Yemen.
Timeline
The United States sought to counter Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) through a campaign of airstrikes that began in late 2009. Drone attacks were flown bases outside Yemen by Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA. Many of these attacks were launched from Djibouti - Camp Lemonnier/Djibouti International Airport.
2009
On 15 March, 4 South Korean tourists were killed in Shibam, Hadhramaut by a suicide bomber. The Yemeni government blamed AQAP for the attack, as well as one on a South Korean delegation on 18 March that killed only the perpetrator.
On 17 December, the U.S. carried out air raids on what officials suspected was an AQAP training camp in al-Majalah, a village in Abyan governorate. The attacks reportedly killed 50 people, including women and children, and injured 60 more according to locals. Yemeni and U.S. officials both distanced themselves from the attack in the aftermath. A Yemeni inquiry into the raid uncovered that the attacks ultimately killed 55 people; 14 AQAP fighters and 41 civilians.
On 24 December, a U.S. airstrike in Shabwah governorate reportedly killed over 30 AQAP members.
2010
On 6 January, Yemeni forces arrest three AQAP members in Sana'a who were wounded in a raid carried out two days before.
On 13 January, Yemeni security forces battled AQAP in Habban district, Shabwah governorate. Yemeni forces had surrounded the residence of AQAP cell leader Abdullah Mehdar, leading to clashes within the district. AQAP fighters ambushed an army unit travelling on a nearby road in order to divert attention from Medhar, killing 2 soldiers. Medhar was eventually killed in the battle, while 4 AQAP members were arrested.
On 14 January, Yemeni airstrikes targeted AQAP vehicles travelling between Saada and al-Jawf governorate, reportedly killing 6 senior leaders. AQAP later denied any of their deaths.
On 8 February, AQAP deputy leader Said Ali al-Shihri called for a regional holy war and blockade of the Red Sea to prevent shipments to Israel. In an audiotape announcement he called upon Somali militant group al-Shabaab for assistance in the blockade.
On 26 April, an AQAP suicide bomber attempted to assassinate the UK ambassador to Yemen, Timothy Torlot, in Sana'a. Torlot was unhurt, but 3 others were injured in the attack. AQAP attempted again to kill a British diplomat, Fionna Gibb, in Sana'a on 6 October. An AQAP member fired a rocket-propelled grenade at her vehicle, injuring an embassy worker and 3 bystanders. Gibb was unharmed.
First Battle of Lawdar
The Yemeni government launched an offensive on 19 August to secure the town of Lawdar, Abyan, which was an AQAP stronghold. The government announced on 25 August that they recaptured the town, reportedly killing 12 to 19 AQAP fighters and losing 11 soldiers.
Battle of Huta
On 20 September, the Yemeni government ensigned the town of Huta, Shabwah, where 80 to 100 AQAP militants were reportedly in control. In the initial assault, 3 AQAP members and 2 soldiers were reported to have been killed. On 22 September, 4 people were killed with another 3 injured during clashes in the town. The same day, Yemeni forces detained more than 20 gunmen presumed to be members of AQAP. The Yemeni government ended the siege on 24 September, with 5 AQAP members killed and 32 detained in total.
On 24 November 2010, an AQAP suicide bomber attacked a Houthi convoy celebrating the day of Ghadir in al-Matun district, al-Jawf, killing 17 people and injuring 30 others. On 26 November, AQAP bombed a convoy in Sahar district, Saada, heading to the funeral of Badreddin al-Houthi, killing one person and injuring eight.
2011
On 7 January, 12 soldiers were killed in an AQAP ambush in Lawdar, Abyan. The next day, AQAP fighters attacked a military checkpoint in Lahij governorate, killing 4 soldiers.
On 6 March, AQAP claimed responsibility for two attacks which killed 5 Yemeni soldiers altogether. 4 soldiers, part of the Republican Guard, were killed in an ambush on a convoy in Marib governorate, while an army colonel was shot and killed in Zinjibar, Abyan.
AQAP took advantage of the chaos caused by the Yemeni revolution to seize significant territory in the southern Abyan governorate. On 28 March, AQAP seized the town of Jaʽār, Abyan after army forces withdrew from the city after clashing with the militants over the weekend. The next day, a massive explosion in a weapons factory near the town killed 150 people. On 25 March, 3 AQAP militants were killed by security forces in Lawdar. On 26 March, 5 AQAP fighters died after attacking a military checkpoint in Lawdar. On 31 March, AQAP declared an "Islamic Emirate" in Abyan, reportedly seizing most of the governorate by the time of their announcement.
On 13 May, an AQAP ambush on a Yemeni army convoy in Marib left at least 5 soldiers dead. The attacker had fired an RPG at the convoy.
Battle of Zinjibar
On 27 May, Ansar al-Sharia, an organization commonly understood to be an affiliate or direct extension of AQAP, captured the capital of Abyan governorate, Zinjibar. More than 200 militants seized the town, killing 16 soldiers and freeing dozens of prisoners. Ansar al-Sharia entrenched itself into the city in the following days, repelling attempts by the military to enter the city on 31 May and on 7 June, and forcing 2 brigades to retreat on 21 June. Multiple tribes changed their allegiance from the militants to the military as fighting raged on in Abyan and more civilians were displaced. The Yemeni army along with allied tribes launched an offensive on July 17 attacking the city from the west. On 22 July, the army established control over a sports stadium near Zinjibar and waged fighting near the entrance of the city, while allied tribes secured a main highway leading to the city. Though the city was declared to be retaken by the government on 10 September, the government only controlled the eastern portion while Ansar al-Sharia still controlled the west. A deal was reached on 12 January 2012 to allow residents to return.
A prison break in Mukalla occurred in mid-June, freeing 63 AQAP prisoners and killing a guard. The prison was attacked by militants with artillery, allowing the inmates to escape through a 35-metre long tunnel.
On 10 August, AQAP seized the port town of Shuqrah, Abyan, quickly driving out local tribesman with a group of no more than 50 militants. The group had also seized government equipment and artillery.
On 30 September, American-Yemeni cleric and alleged AQAP member Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the town of Khashef, al-Jawf governorate, while travelling in a vehicle. Awlaki was previously the target of a drone strike on 5 May, though he evaded the attack which instead killed 2 AQAP members in their car. The U.S. government placed Awlaki on a CIA kill list and froze his assets a year before, accusing him of inciting and directing multiple terror plots in the United States, including the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253. The attack had also killed Samir Khan, an American citizen from Saudi Arabia who, along with Awlaki, was an editor and publisher of AQAP's magazine, Inspire.
On 12 December a prison break in Aden freed up to 15 AQAP members. The prisoners had escaped via a 40-metre long tunnel.
2012
On 16 January, AQAP seized the town of Rada'a, Al-Bayda, just 100 miles south of Sana'a. A group of 200 fighters had stormed the town, freed at least 150 prisoners, killed 2 soldiers in clashes with the army and secured multiple weapons caches and military vehicles. With mounting tribal pressure, the group withdrew from Rada'a on 25 January after they reached an agreement with the government to release 15 of their fighters.
Battle of Dofas
On 4 March, Ansar al-Sharia launched an attack on military artillery units in Dofas, a town located on the outskirts of Zinjibar. Fighters had attacked the base from the east to draw a response from the army before launching a larger attack from the west. The battle killed 187 soldiers and injured at least 135, with the militants seizing weapons, heavy artillery and tanks from the military.
On 13 March an AQAP suicide bombing near al-Bayda that killed four soldiers and left four others critically injured. After this attack militants posted a video in which they announced the capture of yet another soldier, bringing the total number of prisoners they hold to 74. They demanded an agreement to free imprisoned insurgents in exchange for the soldiers.
On 31 March, a large group of AQAP fighters attacked an army checkpoint in Lahij governorate during the night, sparking a battle that left 20 soldiers and 4 insurgents dead. The attackers fled with heavy weapons and at least two tanks. Government forces later called in airstrikes that successfully destroyed one of the captured tanks, killing its three occupants.
Second Battle of Lawdar
On 9 April, a large group of AQAP militants attacked a military base near the city of Lawdar, briefly overrunning it before locals joined the military to push them out. At least 94 people were killed in that initial attack, including six civilians, 74 AQAP fighters, and 14 soldiers. This was the third such assault in recent weeks, after two similar attacks in March left at least 130 soldiers dead and more than 70 as prisoners of al-Qaeda affiliated groups.
Government sources raised the casualty figures on 10 April to 124 deaths; 102 militants, 14 soldiers, and at least eight civilians. Local tribal sources confirmed the toll, adding that among the dead insurgents there were at least 12 Somalis and several Saudis. Reinforcements were being brought into the area as airstrikes began attacking AQAP positions near Lawdar and on the main road towards Zinjibar. At least 51 deaths were recorded on 11 April, raising the total death toll to over 200. These included 42 militants, six soldiers and three local militia members. The government reportedly sent an elite anti-terrorism squad to help in defeating the militants.
By 13 April the battle was still raging around the city with clashes spreading to nearby Mudiyah, the only other town apart from Lawdar that AQAP did not control in Abyan. Mortar shelling was reported for the second consecutive day by local citizens, with at least 17 civilians injured and the main power station reportedly on fire. After the government sent an additional 200 soldiers, AQAP pulled out of the city and towards the nearby villages of Um Sorra and Wadhia, leaving a few snipers behind. The official death toll by the end of the day stood at 37, including 31 militants, five members of a tribal civilian militia, and a child that was shot by an unidentified sniper. Authorities reported the city to be relatively quiet on April 14, with only sporadic gunfire breaking the silence. On 15 April, a suicide bomber killed two tribal militia members at a checkpoint in al-Hodn, just outside Lawdar. Six militants and two locals were killed in other clashes around the town, specifically in an area called al-Minyasa.