An apparent US drone strike in Yemen's Marib province—the fourth reported in the last 10 days—killed four purported al-Qaeda militants Aug. 6. The strikes come as the Yemeni government is "deeply disappointed" in the US decision to evacuate embassy staff [8], an official said. "It plays into the hands of al-Qaeda," the official warned. (LAT [9], Aug. 6) On the same day as the new drone strike, tribesmen in Marib shot down an army helicopter, killing eight soldiers, during a clash as workers attempted to repair a main oil pipeline blown up by saboteurs. (AFP [10], Aug. 6) Fighting has also returned to the capital, with least one killed in clashes between soldiers and troops of the ostensibly disbanded Republican Guard, who were holding a protest in central Sanaa. (BBC News [11], Aug. 2)
Reports from a RAND analyst indicate that Nasir al-Wuhayshi [12], the "emir" of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has recently been appointed to also serve as the global al-Qaeda network's "general manager"—challenging the widespread claim that al-Qaeda's "core" is based solely in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Al-Wuhayshi has been named as the mastermind of the supposed plot that has prompted the embassy closures. Al-Wuhayshi served as Osama bin Laden's personal aid from the late 1990s until after 9-11, and was reportedly by his side at the battle of Tora Bora [13]. Al-Wuhayshi fled to Iran, where he was detained and deported to Yemen in 2003. He escaped [14] from prison in 2006 along with other jihadists who rebuilt al-Qaeda's presence inside Yemen. (Long War Journal [15], Aug. 6)
Please support our fund drive [16].
