Al Qaeda Shifted from Afghanistan to North Yemen in 2007
Considering the Germans’ kidnapping in Sa’ada has put a new focus on terrorists in northern Yemen, I wanted to clarify the timeline. Al Qaeda made a push into northern Yemen in 2007, according to Saudi intel statements and other reports at the time. Of course they were there before, but in 2007 there was an increase, prompting the Saudis to call Yemen then potentially “the new Afghanistan”. It was an unusual statement for the Saudis if you look closely. You can figure who the Saudi official is. This is in addition to the repeated Saudi reports of training camps in northern Yemen that accompanied the announcements of mass round-ups in Saudi Arabia.
The recent (April?) arrival of foreign fighters in Sa’ada as well as the minor migration from Afghanistan to Yemen noted by the New York Times last week just augmented the numbers. Abdul Rahman al Rashed notes today: There are documented reports confirming that convoys from the Al-Qaeda Organization are moving in large numbers to the northern mountains of Yemen…
Furthermore the Houthis have noted foreign fighters in Sa’ada for years, including many Egyptians, if I recall correctly, among other nationalities. Al Qaeda is and has been well established in northern Yemen for quite some time and it has been an important location within the broader organization (Al Qaeda Central). When you overlay the Sa’ada Wars on the region, its quite interesting. Not to mention the Iraqi Ba’athists incorporated into the Yemeni military in Sa’ada since 2005, which was the year all journalists were excluded from the governorate. The ban on journalists in Sa’ada continues to today.
Alsharq Alwasat via AOLDecember 2007: An official who is a close observer of the Al Qaeda network believes that the organization has begun to shift its activities to Yemen, in addition to its strong presence in Iraq. The movement’s migration from Afghanistan is practically aiming to surround the Gulf region, which Al Qaeda considers its first and last goal….
The aforementioned official believes that Yemen may replace Afghanistan as the incubator to breed, rally and train [terrorists]. In practice, Yemen could become the new Al Qaeda base a label once reserved for Afghanistan…If Al Qaeda has really decided to shift its center and perhaps its headquarters to the mountain peaks of northern Yemen, then we are facing a new challenge and a new phase in combat.
