Violence broke out today in the Bayda Province of central Yemen when a tribal leader assassinated his half-brother, Tarek al-Dahab, who was the top leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), appointed as the Emir of the region.
AQAP was quick to retaliate, firing rockets into the home of the assassin, killing him and two relatives. Armed tribesmen arrived on the scene and their vehicle was destroyed. All told, 17 were killed in what became a major battle between pro- and anti-AQAP forces.
The al-Qaifa tribe, which was involved in the battles, says it is determined to oust AQAP from the entire area, saying it is concerned the US will use AQAP’s presence to justify air strikes.
AQAP and their auxiliary, the Ansar al-Sharia, have enjoyed considerable success in some tribal areas, notably the Abyan Province in the south, using the growing anger at the US-backed regime to expand influence. Though a number of tribes are not particularly friendly with the regime, today’s clash once again shows that they are not necessarily on AQAP’s side either.
Fuck Al-Qaeda. It's been a CIA asset for a right smart spell.
Yemen problems are rooted in their own history and their own system of tribal confederations. The attempt of centralization in a modern state has failed, and will not work, for as long as the regional loyalties are strong. Placing into this this narrative of AQAP, is downright meaningless. For one, I firmly believe that it is culturally alien to any one from that region, be that Al-Qaeda or anyone else, to have NAMING CONVENTIONS. Thus, Al-Qaeda i Arabian Penninsula, Al-Qaeda in Mezzopotamia and Al-Qaeda in Marghreb — are conventions created in the West, and utterly unthinkable anywhere in that part of the world. For one, they never call themselves a "penninsula". As far as I know, this is invention of Saudi intelligence, a country that forever dabbled and meddled in Yemeni politics. They were there in the seventies, arming and passing money to then independent South, in order to provoke strife there, and get South incorporated in the North. I was there. I new people who did it for living. Nothing has changed since.