Increase in AQAP attacks in Yemen’s Abyan province indicates ineffectiveness of UAE operations against jihadists’ guerrilla tactics

Yamanyoon- 24 Oct 2017

Four jihadist militants, using a combination of suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIEDS), grenades, and heavy weapons, attacked the headquarters of the ‘Security Belt’ forces in Mudiyah, Abyan province, Yemen, on 23 October.

The Security Belt is one of the main militias funded and trained by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the principal partner of Saudi Arabia in the coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen’s ongoing civil war, but is mainly tasked with conducting counter-terrorism operations against Sunni jihadist groups across southern Yemen. The attack was later claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP presented it as retribution for the “UAE’s role in fighting Islam and Muslims” in Yemen.