AQAP Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

The leader of Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Nasir al-Wuhasyshi was killed Friday in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen’s Hadramout region, Yemeni national security officials today told CNN. Al-Wuhasyshi was the No. 2 al-Qaeda leader globally and the head of its branch in Yemen, the AQAP. He assumed the command of AQAP in 2009, and had previously worked as a private secretary to Osama bin Laden. This is a significant blow to the organization's leadership.

File photo: AQAP leader Nasir al-Wuhasyshi who was killed in Yemen on Friday 12 June 2015 in a U.S. drone strike. (CNN)

Chaos in Yemen: Update

On Thursday, the Huthi (AnsarAllah) forces seized the Presidential Palace in Aden, after capturing the city’s central Crater district. On Friday, forces loyal to President Hadi, backed by intense Saudi airstrikes, forced the Huthis to withdraw from the palace, and the Crater district, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, Khaled Batarfi, a leader of al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was seen in Aden today in photos circulating in social media. Batarif had been freed from prison by AQAP militants on Thursday when they took advantage of the chaotic situation in the country and captured the Yemeni port city of Mukallah on the Gulf of Aden and freed 270 prisoners from the city’s central prison, including Batarfi.

The fighting among factions in the city of Aden has killed 58 people and injured 200 more in the past two days. The factions are loyal to President Hadi, now in exile in Riyadh, the Huthi insurgents, who are the de-facto rulers of the country, former president Saleh, back from exile in Riyadh and for now an ally of the Huthis, and AQAP militants.

Adding in the midst are the Saudi Special Forces on the ground in Yemen assisting fighters targeting Houthis and Saleh troops, CNN reported today. The Saudi force are “coordinating and guiding” in non-combat roles, a Saudi source told the network. They also have helped “parachute in weapons and communications equipment.” And the Iranians have been supporting and arming the Huthis, although they have not directly taken part in the fighting as in Iraq or Syria.

The Saudi-led coalition of nine Middle Eastern countries has been conducting airstrikes against the Huthis since 25 March, hitting their major military facilities and armaments. But the Huthis have continued their advance in the country. Now the Saudi ground forces have taken up positions across the Yemeni border for possible ground invasion, CNN reported. But the Huthis are battle-hardened guerilla fighters and could match their opponents and could also cross into Saudi Arabia.

Photo credit: Huthi fighters in Aden on Thursday after capturing the city’s Crater neighborhood and the Presidential Palace. They were pushed back from the city on Friday under intense Saudi airstrikes and engagement with pro-Hadi forces.

Yemen's Shite rebels overrun Al-Qaeda stronghold at Rada'a

According to Associated Press:

Yemen's Shiite rebels on Friday overran an al-Qaida stronghold after days of battling the militants for the city in the country's central heartland, a Yemeni official and a tribal leader said.

The capture of the city of Radda, in the in the province of Bayda, came with the help of a Yemeni army commander, the two said.

The Shiite rebels known as Houthis have been fighting both al-Qaida militants and Sunni tribes over the past few days. The rebels, who in September gained control of the capital, Sanaa, earlier this week overran a key Yemeni port city on the Red Sea.

The Houthis entered Radda on Friday, after the commander of Yemeni army's Battalion 193 gave up his troops positions, a security official and a tribal leader from the city said.

An interesting situation report from Saudi Arabia's perspective on the Shia advances in Yemen has recently been rendered at Al-Monitor:

[I]t is very frustrating in Riyadh to see the Zaydi Houthis and their Iranian friends doing so well in Yemen. From King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s perspective, the kingdom is under dual sieges. The first is Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah and the regimes in Syria and Iraq. The second is al-Qaeda and its offshoot the Islamic State (IS) with their strongholds in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

The Houthi advance threatens to plunge Yemen into the same kind of sectarian struggle that grips Syria and Iraq. The Sunni majority in Yemen and the Zaydi minority are increasingly polarizing the country on sectarian grounds, with the Saudis and Iranians fighting another proxy war along the Sunni-Shiite divide.

Since the United States was Saleh’s ally for years and now backs Hadi, the Zaydis are, not surprisingly, anti-American. Washington’s close ties to Riyadh add to their animus against the United States. A bumper sticker on Houthi vehicles proclaims “Death to America, Death to Israel, A curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.” At the same time, the Houthis and AQAP are mortal enemies. Just as in Iraq, the pro-Iranian Shiite Zaydis in Yemen are opponents of extremist Sunni ideologues such as IS and AQAP.

Houthi militiamen, observed better equipped & organized

Above: Houthi militiamen seen outfitted in new Yemen Army issue digital camouflage BDUs and Yemen Army issue boots. Observed 14OCT14 at Sanaa, Yemen.

Houthi security enforcing perimeter around coffins of persons killed by SVIED attack carried out by AQAP. Houthi security seen outfitted in Yemen law enforcement issue high visibility vests. Observed 14OCT14 at Sanaa, Yemen.

Houthi militiaman seen outfitted in new Yemen Police issue uniform, including BDUs, boots and beret. Note Houthi slogan sticker attached to magazine of AK-type assault rifle. Observed 08OCT14 at Sanaa, Yemen.

Houthi appear to have integrated into or supplanted Yemen Army and police ranks in the capital city. This is a core source of contention for Saudi Arabia towards Iran as seen earlier this week in the diplomatic spat made public between the two countries, with Saudi Arabia identifying Iran as a cause of Houthi military and political ascendancy currently taking effect in parts of Yemen.

Houthi militiamen as they appeared on 22SEP14 upon their takeover of Yemen Army First Armored Division military compound near Sanaa, Yemen.

Houthi capture of Yemen Army T-55 medium tank, observed 22SEP14 near Sanaa, Yemen

Houthi capture of Yemen Army T-55 medium tank, observed 22SEP14 near Sanaa, Yemen

Houthi capture of Yemen Army BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle, observed 22SEP14 near Sanaa, Yemen

Houthi capture of battle-damaged Yemen Army REVA 4x4 MKII armored personnel carrier 

Houthi fighters in Ibb, Yemen, dated 15OCT14. Fighter at right seen outfitted in Yemen Army issue 3-Color DCU type field jacket.

Photos: Khaled Abdullah at Reuters and Hani Mohammed at Associated Press