Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 - Yemen

Overview: Throughout 2015, al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) exploited the political and security vacuum left by conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi-led opposition. On January 22, 2015, forces affiliated with the Houthi-led Ansar Allah seized the Presidential Palace and other government buildings in Sana'a, leading Vice President and Prime Minister (VP/PM) Khaled Bahah and his cabinet to resign, while the Houthis placed President Hadi under house arrest. On February 6, Ansar Allah illegally disbanded parliament and established the appointive Supreme Revolutionary Committee as the highest governing authority. On February 21, President Hadi escaped house arrest and fled Sana'a for Aden. On March 19, Houthi-led opposition forces attempted to seize the airport in Aden. On March 24, President Hadi requested Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) military intervention, invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter, and a Saudi-led coalition launched air operations against the Houthi rebellion; the president fled the country the following day, as Houthi-led forces took control of the Aden airport. The Government of Yemen subsequently remained outside Yemen until September 16, when VP/PM Bahah and most of his ministers reestablished themselves in Aden. However, an October 6 terrorist attack reportedly by ISIL's branch in Yemen on the Government of Yemen's operational headquarters, the Al-Qasr Hotel, once again drove the Government of Yemen outside the country temporarily. While the Yemeni government has since returned – the cabinet is now split between Riyadh and Aden – a large security vacuum persists, which both ISIL and AQAP have taken advantage of to strengthen their foothold and forces inside the country.

AQAP and ISIL-Yemen have also manipulated the conflict as part of a broader Sunni-Shia sectarian conflict. By emphasizing this sectarian divide based on Ansar-Allah's Shia religion and support from Iran, these groups have increased their support base and enabled ISIL-Yemen to gain a foothold in the country. ISIL-Yemen has targeted Zaydi Shia mosques in its attacks. While the exact composition of ISIL-Yemen is still unknown, its numbers are considerably smaller than AQAP's despite it having likely drawn members from some of the same disillusioned Yemeni AQAP members who previously supported ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Structurally, there are seven known wilayat (province) pro-ISIL groups operating in 10 of Yemen's provinces, including Sa'ada, Sana'a, al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Taiz, Ibb, Lahij, Aden, Shahwah, and Hadramawt. While ISIL in Yemen has demonstrated a violent operational pace, it has yet to occupy significant territory or challenge AQAP's status of Yemen's predominate Sunni Islamist terrorist group.

AQAP benefitted during 2015 from the conflict in Yemen by significantly expanding its presence in the southern and eastern governorates. Despite losing a number of senior leaders during 2015, the group was able to increase its recruiting and expand its safe haven in Yemen. It also insinuated itself among multiple factions on the ground, which has made it more difficult to counter. This tactic has allowed AQAP to continue to expand the territory it controlled during 2015 to Abyan, Taiz, and its largest safe haven in the port city of al-Mukalla. It also maintained a presence in Aden. In addition, there were no direct physical clashes reported between the two groups during 2015. Most disputes were confined to verbal or online attacks. However, this could change as the two groups continue to compete with one another.

2015 Terrorist Incidents: AQAP and ISIL terrorists carried out hundreds of attacks throughout Yemen. Methods included suicide bombers, vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs), ambushes, kidnappings, and targeted assassinations. The following list details only a small fraction of the incidents that occurred:

• On March 20, ISIL-Yemen detonated separate suicide vests at two Zaydi mosques in Sana'a, during Friday prayers. At one of the mosques, a suicide bomber entered the crowd of worshipers before detonating and the second bomber detonated as worshipers were fleeing. The blast killed 77 people and injured more than 120 others. On the same day, another suicide bomber attempted to detonate a suicide vest at a Zaydi mosque in Sa'ada City, Sa'ada.

• On April 2, AQAP attacked government and security facilities in al-Mukalla, Hadramawt, on Yemen's southern coast. Militants also attacked a prison and freed an estimated 270 inmates, including AQAP's former head of Abyan province, Khaled Batarfi.

• On April 16, AQAP-linked terrorists led by AQAP's former head of Abyan, Khaled Batarfi, and calling themselves the "Sons of Hadramawt," seized control of al Dhabah oil terminal, directly east of the port city al Mukalla in Hadramawt. The terrorists also seized Rayyan Airport, east of al-Mukalla.

• On October 6, ISIL-Yemen claimed to have detonated four suicide VBIEDs near Yemeni government and Saudi-led coalition sites in Aden.

• On October 14, AQAP terrorists seized a government complex in Zinjibar, a port city near Aden in southern Yemen that AQAP controlled throughout 2011 and into 2012. Suspected AQAP terrorists also attacked an intelligence building in al-Hudaydah, Yemen's Red Seaport.

• On December 6, ISIL-Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack that killed the Governor of Aden, Major General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, and threatened additional attacks on Yemeni government officials.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Yemen does not have comprehensive counterterrorism legislation and no progress was made in this regard as the Yemeni government remained outside Yemen for most of 2015. During this timeframe, the presence of AQAP and ISIL-Yemen increased. As the government reestablishes its foothold in Yemen, it will need to focus on counterterrorism as one of its highest priorities. Government of Yemen officials have expressed an interest in integrating militia, resistance, and other units under one security umbrella as these efforts unfold.

Draft counterterrorism legislation has been pending in the parliament since 2008. This legislation remained at a standstill, as the parliament has not met while the country has been subject to a civil conflict. Prior to the political instability in the capital, the draft was under review by the three parliamentary subcommittees responsible for counterterrorism law issues (Legal and Constitutional Affairs; Security and Defense; and Codification of Sharia Law). This law would facilitate the detention of suspects and include mandatory sentencing for a number of terrorism-related crimes.

Prior to March 2015, the National Security Agency and President's Office drafted a National Counterterrorism Strategy. This draft was reviewed by a Ministerial Committee. However, the committee was unable to finalize its task due to the developments in the country. Therefore, Yemen's National Counterterrorism Strategy had not yet been officially adopted or implemented at the end of 2015. Another committee, at a more technical level worked to establish a Yemen Rehabilitation Center for Countering Extremism. However, the work of the committee stopped in early January 2015 before it began seeking donor funding.

Yemen adopted the Terrorist Interdiction Program's Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) in 2002 in an effort to secure borders and identify fraudulent travel documents. Yemen has the capability to conduct biographic and biometric screening at multiple land, sea, and air ports of entry.

In past years, the Yemeni government's Coast Guard forces played a critical role in interdictions of weapons and other illegal materials destined for Yemen-based terrorist groups, although Yemen's maritime borders remained extremely porous due to a lack of capacity. At present, Yemen's military, including the coast guard, has been degraded by the current conflict. AQAP's control of al-Mukallah and its expansion along the southern coast have made these areas highly vulnerable to maritime smuggling of weapons, materials, and goods used to finance AQAP and other terrorist activities.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Yemen is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body. Yemen did not participate in MENAFATF meetings in 2015. There is currently no information from its Financial Information Unit (FIU), which operates out of the CBY. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Countering Violent Extremism: Throughout 2015, the Government of Yemen leadership has stressed the importance of countering terrorism and violent extremism as the country moves forward towards a peace deal. The Government of Yemen will need to focus on the details of such a plan once conditions allow.

International and Regional Cooperation: While in Riyadh, the Government of Yemen continued to cooperate with and be advised by the GCC, the United States, and other donor countries as it focused on working towards a peaceful solution to the conflict. Despite the challenges, the Government of Yemen remained an international partner as it worked to reestablish itself in Yemen.