Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
CIA ‘operating drone base in Saudi Arabia’
CIA ‘operating drone base in Saudi Arabia’
Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed was a close advisor to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and served as a military commander in Afghanistan before he was killed. El Sayed was involved in the Luxor massacre and, while living in Milan, was recorded by Italian intelligence discussing terror plots against the West.
Houthis and Salafists fought in Saada province in northern Yemen; casualties on both sides were reported. Saudi Arabia requested that Yemen extradite the widow of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s former deputy emir, Said al Shihri.
Four Somalis and two Saudi al Qaeda fighters are reported to have been killed during clashes in Maneseeh in Baydah province. The government will prosecute more than 200 AQAP fighters. Iran denied that it chartered a ship that was carrying weapons for rebels. A Hezbollah delegation reportedly met with Yemeni officials and tribal leaders.
Panetta: Iranian threat spreads
Twenty-one al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters, five soldiers, and two pro-government militia members were killed during fighting near Shurqa in Abyan. The government confirmed that a ship that was seized for smuggling weapons last week is an Iranian vessel.
Eighteen soldiers and 48 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters are reported to have been killed during fighting in the Maneseeh area of Baydah. Peace talks with AQAP have been suspended. The military launched an operation against AQAP in the Mojan and Wadie areas of Abyan.
Fighting in Maneseeh between the Yemeni military and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has stopped as mediators attempt to negotiate the release of three European hostages. Two intelligence officers were wounded in drive-by shootings in Hadramout.
Hundreds of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters have arrived in Manaseeh in Baydah province to battle Yemeni forces who launched an offensive in the area. The fighters are said to have come from Abyan province.
The Yemeni Army launched an offensive against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Baydah in an effort to free three Western hostages; three people are reported to have been killed. AQAP responded with a suicide attack in Rada’a that killed eight soldiers and an ambush that killed three more.
Three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders who run operations in Baydah province and who were brothers-in-law of Anwar al Awlaki are said to be holding an Austrian and two Finnish hostages.
Pakistan still global jihad hub
The government said that Said al Shihri, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s deputy emir, was killed in a counterterrorism operation on Nov. 28. The Houthis killed a member of the Salafist Al Rashad group in Dhamar, and kidnapped a member of the Islamist Islah party in Saada.
The latest strike took place outside of Sana’a. Over the past year, the US has expanded the drone campaign throughout all of Yemen.
A US drone strike in northern Yemen killed at least six al Qaeda operatives after targeting a vehicle as it traveled in a rural area near Sana’a. It is the fourth strike in five days in Yemen. A Baydah province police chief escaped an assassination attempt that killed a soldier and injured the chief’s son […]
Map: The countries most at risk for a coup in 2013
The US killed four AQAP fighters in a drone strike in Al Jawf in northern Yemen. Said al Shihri, AQAP’s deputy emir, is rumored to have died from wounds suffered in a December 2012 drone strike. AQAP confirmed the deaths of two fighters killed in a strike on Dec. 24, 2012.
The strike took place in Al Jawf province, where Anwar al Awlaki was killed two years ago. The US has launched three drone attacks in Yemen in four days.
A jihadist who has handled al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula propaganda in the past, as well as family members, claimed that al Shihri has died. The AQAP deputy emir has been reported killed or captured on several previous occasions.
Abdullah Bawazir fought against US forces in Iraq and escaped from a Yemeni prison in June 2011, according to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was killed in a drone strike in Hadramout on Dec. 24, 2012.
Algeria Attack Shows Reach of Militants
US drones killed an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander and two fighters in a strike in Marib province. The three AQAP members were released from prison in April 2012 after being detained for fighting in Abyan province.
Three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who were captured by security forces but freed in April 2012 were killed in the attack.
US drones killed eight al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike in Marib province. Two Saudi AQAP fighters were among those killed; one was identified as Ismail bin Jamil.
One of the Saudi AQAP fighters was identified as Ismail bin Jamil. The US has launched two strikes so far this year.
Terror Threat Prompts US Rethink on Africa
CIA drone strikes will get pass in counterterrorism ‘playbook,’ officials say
“Gunmen” bombed an oil pipeline in the village of Rudum in Shabwa province; the pipeline moved more than 8,000 barrels of oil per day. Nine al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters were transferred from Aden to Sana’a to face trial.
“Gunmen” assassinated the deputy chief of police in a shooting from a motorcycle in Damar. Iran’s ambassador to Yemen denied the US ambassador’s accusation that Iran is supporting insurgent and terrorist groups.
A Yemeni official said that tribesmen sold a Finnish couple and an Austrian man who were kidnapped last month to al Qaeda in Baydah province. Security forces detained two AQAP fighters near Sana’a. Nine AQAP fighters are being tried for last year’s suicide attack in Sana’a that killed 86 troops.