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Al Qaeda emerges stronger and richer from Yemen war
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Once driven to near irrelevance by the rise of ISIS abroad and security crackdowns at home, Al Qaeda 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. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... now openly rules a mini-state with a war chest swollen by an estimated $100 mln in looted bank deposits and revenue from running the country’s third largest port. If ISIS’ capital is the Syrian city of Raqqa, then Al Qaeda’s is Mukalla, a southeastern Yemeni port city of 500,000 people. Al Qaeda gunnies there have abolished taxes for local residents, operate speedboats manned by RPG-wielding fighters who impose fees on ship traffic, and make propaganda videos in which they boast about paving local roads and stocking hospitals. Posted by: Fred 2016-04-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=452014 |