Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP [2]) fighters overran a military checkpoint at al-Milah in Lahj province of southern Yemen March 31, killing 17 soldiers during an intense battle that also resulted in the deaths of 13 AQAP fighters. The AQAP militants seized two tanks and other weapons. Yemeni warplanes killed three AQAP fighters while attacking one of the seized tanks; it is unclear if the tank was destroyed. AQAP fighters fell back to the city of Ja'ar in neighboring Abyan province, one of several towns now under AQAP control. Ansar al-Sharia, or Partisans of Islamic Law, AQAP's political front in Yemen, claimed credit for the attack in text message, according to Reuters. "The holy warriors of Ansar al-Sharia this morning carried out the raid of dignity on the al-Hurur military checkpoint in Abyan, resulting in the deaths of around 30 [soldiers]," the statement said. (Long War Journal [3], March 31)
Presumed US drone strikes killed five AQAP fighters and one civilian in the city of Azzan in Shabwa province on March 29. One strike targeted a vehicle, and another a building apparently being used by AQAP fighters. AQAP took control of Azzan in early June 2011, after seizing Zinjibar, the provincial capital of neighboring Abyan province. The US has launched at least six strikes against AQAP in Yemen in March alone—in Ja'ar; in al-Baydah, Baydah province; and in Azzan. The CIA and the US military's Joint Special Operations Command are known to have carried out at least 23 air and missile strikes inside Yemen since December 2009. (Long War Journal [4], March 30)
See our last posts on Yemen [5], the drone wars [6], and the Islamist reaction to the Arab Spring [7].
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