Al-Qaeda gains ground in Yemen as country descends into civil war
Patrick Cockburn
Monday, January 12, 2015
Al-Qaeda in Yemen is becoming more powerful because it provides the troops for a Sunni community that feels under increasing threat from a Shia insurgency that has seized much of the country.
Its increased strength has nothing to do with foreign jihadists like Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, who killed 12 people in Paris last week and received training from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqap) based in Yemen in the summer of 2011. Aqap is finding support among Sunni tribes that previously fought against it but are now under pressure from the Houthis, who belong to a Shia branch known as the Zaidis.
About a third of Yemenis are reckoned to belong to the sect, which dominated the country for 1,000 years before the revolution of 1962.
In September, the Houthis captured the capital Sanaa and have been pushing south against Sunni tribes ever since. These are increasingly looking to Aqap to provide experienced fighters and suicide bombers to battle the Houthi militiamen.
in full: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/alqaeda-gains-ground-in-yemen-as-country-descends-into-civil-war-9973653.html
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