[IsraelTimes] Terror group’s Yemen branch has become a de facto ally of Yemeni government in civil war against Iranian-sponsored Houthis.The leader of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen said that his murderous Moslems have often fought alongside Yemeni government factions -- remarks that could embarrass the US-backed coalition fighting the impoverished Arab country’s Iranian catspaws.
Qasim al-Rimi leads the group known as 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...
, considered by Washington to be the most dangerous offshoot of the global terror network. He succeeded Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who was killed in a US dronezap nearly two years ago.
On the US most-wanted list with a $5 million reward for his capture, al-Rimi has been a top target of US
"We fight along all Moslems in Yemen, together with different Islamic groups," he said, adding that his followers have teamed up with an array of factions -- including the ultraconservative Salafis, "the Moslem Brüderbund and also our brothers among the sons of (Sunni) tribes" -- against Yemen’s Iranian catspaws known as Houthis.
Al-Rimi did not elaborate on what exactly fighting "alongside" meant but al-Qaeda has emerged as a de-facto ally of the government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his backers Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the United Arab Emirates against the Houthis in a grueling civil war that has wreaked devastation, caused widespread hunger and killed more than 10,000 since late 2014.
Over the past decade, the terror group has built up ties of one degree or another with the country’s many tribes -- and has often used anger over civilians killed in American
The Moslem Brüderbund and Salafis are some of the key militias on Hadi’s side, and regularly receive funds and weapons from the US-backed Saudi led coalition.
The Yemen war pits fighters loyal to Hadi, who was forced into Saudi exile after Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. A coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia stepped in to wage an extensive air campaign in March 2015 and deployed ground forces against the rebels.
Multiple rounds of UN-brokered peace talks have failed to bridge the gap between Yemen’s warring sides, and the conflict allowed al-Qaeda and its rival Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
affiliate to exploit the chaos and increase their footprint, especially in southern Yemen where Hadi’s forces have failed to restore law and order.
Al-Qaeda seized the city of Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s largest province of Hadramawt in 2015, but was forced to withdraw last year.