Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas has 'no future' in Gaza, says US envoy to Israel

2025-07-04

[GEO.TV] The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said that the Paleostinian gang Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
does not have a future in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, mirroring Israel's position as talks continue for a possible 60-day ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

Asked about the prospects of such a deal, Huckabee told Israel's Channel 12 that ''it's all going to be what Hamas is willing to accept.''

Link

Arabia

STC members killed and wounded during clash in Zinjibar

2025-07-04

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] At least three members of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed and four others maimed on Tuesday, including field commanders, in bloody festivities in the city of Zinjibar of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
A local source in the city said that the festivities erupted between members of the Security Belt factions, led by Mustafa Lashqam, and the Gulf City Protection Force, led by Abdul Rahman al-Faqih.

The source attributed the festivities to previous disputes following the arrest of al-Faqih's brother by Security Belt forces last November at the Arish checkpoint on charges of possessing alcohol and women.

The festivities broke out after an attempt to oust al-Faqih from command of the Gulf City residential area in Khanfar district, which led to a kaboom of tensions between the UAE-funded faction leaders, who have witnessed unprecedented internal conflicts and disputes due to their rivalry over lands in the area.

Link

Arabia

Iranian Government Aircraft Make Mysterious Dash To Oman

2025-06-19

[TWZ] Iran’s primary presidential plane and two other government airliners have touched down in the Omani capital Muscat. The highly unusual arrivals come amid reports that the regime in Tehran is looking to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict with Israel, as well as growing speculation that the United States may be about to directly enter the fighting in a major way.

Where exactly the Iranian aircraft, a pair of Airbus A321s and an Airbus A340, originally departed from is unclear. The trio of aircraft used the callsigns JJ25, JJ26, and JJ28. At the time of writing, there has been no official word about the purpose of the flights or who might be on them.

Link

Good Morning

2025-06-16

Bilderberg: World's most secretive society meets in Sweden as tensions between Europe and Trump reach boiling point

Monday 06/16/2025

Both IRGC head of Intelligence and his deputy were eliminated

sushaywardff

Syria-Lebanon-Iran 'We have no intention to develop nuclear weapons,' Iran's president says		Britain Illegal Immigration a Driving Force Behind Britain's Quarter Trillion Black Market Economy: Report
Fifth Column Chaos Erupts as %u2018No Kings' Demonstrators Leave Texas Capitol Grounds for Street Protest		Europe Clash Report: Major U.S. military airlift underway as unprecedented numbers of KC-135 and KC-46 tankers depart U.S. bases, heading toward Europe.
Syria-Lebanon-Iran Iran Calls For ''islamic Army'' With Turkey, Saudi, Pakistan		Israel-Palestine-Jordan DM liveblog: Iran marshals Islamic Army for all-out war as Israel makes desperate plea to Trump

Gunman opens fire during protest in Salt Lake City

Link

Arabia

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen chief threatens Trump, Musk over Gaza war: ‘There are no red lines’

2025-06-08

[IsraelTimes] Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who has $6 million US bounty on head, calls for lone-wolf assassinations of Egyptian, Jordanian, and Gulf leaders due to war

The leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
branch has threatened both US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
war in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, in his first video message since taking over the group last year.

The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
, also included calls for lone-wolf bully boyz to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza.

Interesting. They must be particularly upset in Egypt, where they’ve tried so hard to balance their brotherly Moslem duty to Hamas with their dislike of Jewish Israel despite the billions of lovely American dollars the ostensible peace brings in.

The video of al-Awlaki’s speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
, and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk’s businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla.

"There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate."

BRANCH LONG THOUGHT MOST DANGEROUS
Though believed to have been weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US dronezaps killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda still operating after the 2011 killing by US Navy SEALs of founder the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is now beyond all cares and woe......
, who criminal masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In 2022, a US dronezap in Afghanistan killed bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
, who also helped plot 9/11. The September 11 attacks began decades of war by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group.

Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million US bounty on his head, as Washington says he "has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies." He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024.

A FOCUS OF THE HOUTHIS AS WELL
AQAP seizing onto the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships.

The Trump administration launched an intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president’s recent trip to the Middle East.

The Houthis’ international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen’s long-stalemated war. al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which UN experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni Death Eater group. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the bully boyz keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces, who have battled the Houthis.

"As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the ’Arab and Moslem world’s resistance’ against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza," said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemeni expert at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

"For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters."

Link

Arabia

Houthis Reportedly Train Al-Shabaab Members in Yemen, Raising Threat to Red Sea Shipping

2025-05-31

[Garowe] Growing evidence suggests a strengthening alliance between Somalia-based al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
snuffies and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets

...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels, significantly escalating threats to maritime traffic and regional stability in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and western Indian Ocean.

A detailed report published by the Africa Center stated that the collaboration has enhanced both groups' capacity to disrupt international shipping and challenge security across critical waterways.

The United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
has confirmed that al-Shabaab received advanced weapons and technical training from the Houthis between June and September 2024. The arms were reportedly used in attacks on African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
forces in Somalia during September and November last year.

According to U.N. intelligence, more than a dozen al-Shabaab operatives were also sent to Yemen for drone warfare training by members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
(AQAP), further expanding the group’s tactical capabilities.

"This growing collaboration in weapons, technology, and training poses a serious concern for the security of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait," the report stated. Analysts also warned that the alliance complicates surveillance along a vulnerable 1,800-mile stretch of coastline spanning the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and western Indian Ocean.

A former U.S. State Department official cautioned that continued American disengagement from Somalia could create opportunities for al-Shabaab to expand its operations into neighboring Kenya and Æthiopia, while further solidifying its ties with the Houthis.

"This isn’t just a regional threat—it could eventually impact global trade and maritime security if left unchecked," the official said.

Shabelle Media adds:

According to a report cited by The Washington Post, the Houthis have dispatched bomb-making experts to Jilib, a stronghold of Al-Shabaab in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, signaling a new and dangerous phase in regional militancy.

The report suggests that the two groups have strengthened their ties, coordinating the movement of weapons and fighters via the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean—routes increasingly monitored by U.S. naval forces deployed to counter Houthi expansionism.

“This kind of cooperation opens the door to the exchange of highly lethal technologies,” a former senior U.S. State Department official told The Washington Post, adding that Washington’s reduced presence in Somalia may have created a security vacuum that the militants are now exploiting.

There are growing fears that Al-Shabaab, emboldened by this new support, could stage attacks beyond Somalia’s borders, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia, using weapons and explosives supplied by the Houthis.

Intelligence sources have warned that a potential withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia could seriously undermine years of progress in stabilizing the country and combating Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency for more than 16 years.

Link

Arabia

Former al-Qaeda commander and HTS associate launches new movement in Hadhramaut Valley

2025-04-16

[HodhodYemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
News] Abu Omar Riyad al-Nahdi, a former leader in al-Qaeda and a prominent associate of the head of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) in Iraq, has officially launched a new political movement called "Current of Change and Liberation" in the city of Seiyun, Hadhramaut Valley, well-informed sources reported.

The sources confirmed that al-Nahdi, who defected from the takfiri

...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
organization in 2018, was previously known by "Rafiq al-Shar’a" due to his close ties with Ahmed al-Shar’a (Abu Mohammed al-Julani), the leader of HTS—a ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
-backed faction that later declared itself the governing authority in Syria after Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
’s departure from power.

The new movement has reportedly gained significant traction in the valley’s districts, coinciding with humanitarian activities carried out by the Ottoman Turkish Red Islamic Thingy (Hilal al-Ahmar al-Turki) in recent years, facilitated by leaders of al-Islah Party (Yemen’s Moslem Brüderbund affiliate).

Notably, al-Nahdi previously fought with al-Qaeda in Iraq before announcing his defection and undergoing political training, raising questions about his true objectives, regional affiliations, and activities under a political cover in Hadhramaut’s oil-rich areas. These regions are controlled by factions of the First Military District, which is loyal to Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a leading figure in al-Islah.

Observers view the announcement of this movement in Seiyun as a clear message from al-Islah to curb the ambitions of the UAE-backed Southern Translation Council (STC), which has failed since August 2022 to fully control Hadhramaut Valley after declaring "Operation Arrows of the East."

Saudi-led forces blocked the STC’s military advances after the factions seized al-Islah’s camps in Shabwa and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
.

This comes at a time when Hadhramaut Governorate is witnessing intense political conflicts between the UAE and Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, carried out through local proxies such as the STC, the Hadhramaut Tribes Alliance, and al-Jami’, the latter two being headed by tribal sheikh Amr bin Habrish al-Ali, who is aligned with Saudi Arabia. His armed forces took control of the oil fields in July of last year and are now moving to encircle the coastal districts controlled by UAE-backed factions, including al-Rayyan Airport and the al-Dhaba oil terminal, which have been under Emirati control since 2016.

Link

Arabia

Two prominent Al-Qaeda figures killed in Saudi-occupied Yemen

2025-02-16

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Two prominent leaders of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, including a Saudi national, were killed in separate ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in the governorates of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
and Shabwah, which are under the control of the Saudi-led coalition in southeastern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
Informed sources confirmed that a senior figure, known by the alias Abu Muhammad al-Hudhali al-Makki—a Saudi national—was killed in a US airstrike on the Musayna'ah area in the al-Saeed district, south of Ataq in Shabwa governorate, which is controlled by UAE-backed factions, last Wednesday.

The sources also reported the death of another leader, Ayoub al-restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
i, in a similar airstrike in Mudiyah district, Abyan governorate, last week.

These operations targeting the organization's leaders followed the death of another leader, Abu Yusuf al-Mahdi al-Hadrami, earlier in February. He was killed in a kaboom involving a booby-trapped cycle of violence in the Wadi district, east of Ma'rib city, which is controlled by the Islah Party.

The governorates of Abyan, Shabwah, and Ma'rib have witnessed a significant presence of terrorist elements, especially after Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
gathered these groups into training camps following the cleansing operations carried out by Sana'a forces in the al-Bayda districts in recent years.

Link

Arabia

Prominent al-Qaeda leader killed in occupied Ma'rib

2025-02-09

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A prominent leader in the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
(AQAP) was killed east of the city of Ma'rib, which is under the control of Islah Party

…the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen…

mercenaries loyal to the Saudi-led aggression coalition.

According to media sources, Abu Yusuf al-Muhammadi al-Hadrami, a prominent member and a military commander of al-Qaeda in was killed when a cycle of violence packed with explosives went off in the al-Samdah area, located in the al-Wadi district, east of Ma'rib.

The sources suggested that the liquidation of al-Hadrami via a booby-trapped cycle of violence could mark the beginning of a conflict between al-Qaeda leaders, who use several areas controlled by Islah in Ma'rib and some southern regions as training camps for their operatives.

Link

Arabia

New study reveals million dollar business in human trafficking of African refugees to Yemen

2025-01-15

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A shocking international study has revealed the extent of the illicit trade that thrives on the back of the suffering of African ~~migrants~~ colonists heading to Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
A study conducted by the ''MMC'' (a global network), which specializes in migration research, showed that the smuggling of African ~~migrants~~ colonists to Yemen generates about $30 million annually for organized smuggling gangs.

The study indicated that about 100,000 ~~migrants~~ colonists attempt to cross Yemen annually, making this route a major target for smuggling gangs that operate in an organized manner from Djibouti.

This trade is considered one of the most dangerous types of illegal immigration in the world, as ~~migrants~~ colonists put their lives at risk on a dangerous journey across the Red Sea.

During the past year, hundreds of African ~~migrants~~ colonists arrived on the coasts of Shabwa and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
provinces amid accusations against leaders of the UAE-backed factions of collusion with smuggling gangs in exchange for sums of money paid to them on a monthly basis.

Just before Christmas when I ordered lots of green coffee beans from a site in Oakland CA (Oakland where much of our good coffee enters the USA), They had 3 types from Yemen. They have not had Yemen coffee in years so somehow Yemen coffee is on the world's market again even though they lob missiles and drones like confetti.

Link

Arabia

STC-affiliated leader injured in landmine explosion

2024-03-22

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A leader affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s factions was injured on Wednesday, in a kaboom of a landmine in the province of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
.

Pro-STC Media sources reported that the chief of staff of the so-called "Second Battalion in the Sixth Support Brigade," Mahmoud Braber, was maimed in a kaboom of a landmine he attempted to dismantle in Wadi Omran in the district of Mudiyah east of the city of Zinjibar, the bucolic provincial capital.

According to the sources, Braber fired at the landmine to detonate it and neutralize its effect, but unidentified individuals remotely executed the detonation of the landmine.

He was then transferred to one of the hospitals in Aden, the sources said.

Link

-Obits-

AQAP announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi

2024-03-11

[Twitter]

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi. pic.twitter.com/yvzlcAiWg2
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) March 10, 2024

Le Monde adds:

Batarfi had appointed his successor back in February 2020, following the death of his predecessor, Qassim al-Rimi, in a US dronezap or Yemen.

Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
has announced the death of its leader Khalid Batarfi and named a successor, SITE Intelligence Group reported Sunday, March 10. The monitoring service said Batarfi's body was shown in footage released by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
(AQAP) in a burial shroud and wrapped in a flag bearing the jihadist group's name.

"God took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm, immigrated, garrisoned, and waged jihad," SITE quoted an AQAP veteran as saying of Batarfi in the nearly 15-minute video. There were no immediate details of the time or cause of Batarfi's death. He was believed to be in his 40s.

The United States considers al-Qaeda's Yemen branch the most dangerous faction of the global jihadist network, and the State Department designated Batarfi in 2018 a "global terrorist". SITE said the group had named its new chief Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who last appeared in a video released in February 2023 urging Sunni rustics to join AQAP.

The Sunni bad boy group thrived in the chaos of years of war since 2014 between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s. AQAP has carried out operations in Yemen against both the Huthis and government forces.

It has also carried out sporadic attacks abroad, including on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo
...Pix/Hebdo2.pngA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
in 2015 and a 2019 mass shooting at a US naval base in Florida, in which a Saudi Air Force officer killed three American sailors.

Update from the Times of Israel at 2:15 p.m. ET:

Khalid al-Batarfi had a $5 million bounty on his head from the US government over leading the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula over years that saw him imprisoned, freed in a jailbreak, and governing forces in Yemen amid that country’s grinding war.

Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP has long been considered the most dangerous branch of the extremist group still operating after the killing of founder Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda released a video showing al-Batarfi wrapped in a white funeral shroud and al-Qaeda’s black-and-white flag. Terrorists offered no details on the cause of his death and there was no clear sign of trauma visible on his face. Al-Batarfi was believed to be in his early 40s.

In the announcement, the group said Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki would take over as its leader. The US has a $6 million bounty on him, saying al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.”

Why is the new guy worth 20% more than the dead one was?

Estimates provided to the UN put AQAP’s total forces as numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops,

…how very tawdry and commonplace…

as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

…smuggling weapons and ransom operations being the usual occupations of Yemeni lads when they’re feeling feisty. Currency counterfeiting is a bit more technical than they usually get up to, but every group contains at least a few eager to learn and better themselves…

Under al-Batarfi, AQAP fell further under the influence of al-Qaeda fighter Saif al-Adel, now believed to lead the terror group after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022. That came as Yemen has been locked in a war between the Houthi rebels, who hold the capital, Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition backing the country’s exiled government based in Aden.

“Since 2020, Saif al-Adel has been able to convince al-Batarfi of his strategic approach, focused on confronting Western states and their allies in Yemen — the Saudi-led coalition, the Aden-based government, the United Arab Emirates and its allies — rather than confronting the Iranian-backed Houthi movement,” a 2023 report by the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies said.

Al-Adel is believed to be in Iran, part of a longtime al-Qaeda presence in the Islamic Republic. That’s long been denied by Tehran but backed up by documents seized in the 2011 US raid in Pakistan that killed bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Good to know.

Al-Batarfi’s ties to al-Adel had strained relations in AQAP, experts say. However, it has seen the terrorists become armed with bomb-carrying drones — something the Houthis now use to target shipping in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Very interesting — a hint that not only is Iran sheltering Al Qaeda’s top leaders, but supplying at least one of its key franchises as well.

AQAP “developed unmanned aerial systems capabilities, establishing a specialized drone unit, with operational training from the Houthis,” a UN report from January says.

That goes well beyond hinting. And the Houthis would only help their enemy on direct orders from Tehran.

“It prioritizes liberating its prisoners to replenish ranks; in September, the Houthis released several AQAP members and explosives experts.”

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years while the terrorists continue to attack Saudi-led coalition forces.

Me and my brother against my cousin. Me and my cousin against the outside world.

Yemen’s history and tribal structure long has seen alliances rapidly shift, something its late strongman President Ali Abdullah Saleh referred to as “dancing on the heads of snakes.”

Al-Batarfi, born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and fought alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion. He joined AQAP in 2010 and led forces in taking over Yemen’s Abyan province, according to the US.

In 2015, he was freed after an AQAP raid that saw the terrorists capture Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt, amid the chaos of the war. A photo at the time showed al-Awlaki with a Kalashnikov rifle, posing inside a government palace there.

AQAP was later pushed out of Mukalla but has continued attacks and been the target of a US drone strike campaign since the administration of then-president George W. Bush.

In 2020, there had been claims that al-Bartafi had been detained, which later were denied. In 2021, he appeared in a video by the terror group and referred to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol as “only the tip of the iceberg of what will come to them, God willing.”

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