Al-Qaeda in Yemen Vows Revenge Over Saudi Mass Executions

For Saudi Arabia, the recent mass execution of Shi’ite detainees was barely an issue. The nation’s Shi’ite minority is not well-regarded by the kingdom’s leadership, and even many of them protesting their innocence was hardly a blip domestically. The Saudi state was even comfortable enough taking one of the men and crucifying him publicly as a “warning to others.”

This all fueled a lot of criticism from the US and Europe, where the mass execution of members of a religious minority was seen as potentially problematic. The State Department was uncharacteristically critical of the Saudis, seeing religious freedom as at risk in these killings.

One group the Saudis probably didn’t expect to condemn them was al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemeni-based al-Qaeda affiliate which has often killed Shi’ites itself.

AQAP, however, issued a statement accusing the Saudis of conducting the killings to try to “appease America,” and promised to carry out revenge on their behalf, saying they would not forget about the death of the “noble children of the nation.”