AMU Homeland Security Intelligence Middle East Opinion Terrorism

Al-Qaeda Hits Yemen Police Academy

By William Tucker

A suicide bomber struck a police academy in Sana’a Yemen killing eight and wounding another 15. As of this writing al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack; however AQAP has made numerous threats against the Yemeni government in response to the counterterrorism operations that have been ongoing since May. Furthermore, the tactics and target of today’s attack strongly suggest that AQAP, or it political wing Ansar al-Sharia, was involved. The group responsible will likely claim credit in the near future.

In the midst of the upheaval over long time Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule, AQAP took advantage of the situation and began seizing territory in South Yemen. During this AQAP offensive the Yemeni military was hit particularly hard. Once the new Yemeni President was sworn in the military was tasked with retaking AQAP held territory. For the most part the counterterrorism operations were successful in that regard; however AQAP has existed as an insurgency for several years and easily returned to the familiar tactics.

This is not to say that the counterterrorism operations have failed; rather it is important to distinguish between individual operations and their respective objectives. In this case the government had a pressing need to reassert itself and reclaim AQAP held territory. That was the operations extent. Other operations targeting AQAP are ongoing in several regions of Yemen – some with U.S. support. It is important to keep in mind that some operations take time to show results. AQAP has not yet been defeated, but neither has the Yemeni military.

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