The link below is to an article that takes a look at al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
For more visit:
http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula-36103
Tag Archives: Al Qaeda
ISIL and Al Qaeda: Terror’s frenemies
A new narrative is emerging about the Jan 7 attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo—that it was spurred, at least in part, by a competition between two terrorist groups. The theory is that Al Qaeda instigated the attack, through its franchise in Yemen, in order to reclaim its position as terrorist top dog from the arrivistes known variously as ISIL, ISIS and the Islamic State.
But the real lesson from Paris is that the distinctions between Al Qaeda and ISIL are immaterial to self-styled jihadis.
At least one of the Kouachi brothers, gunmen in the Paris massacre, traveled to Yemen to train with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, and US officials believe the attack was ordered by the group’s high command. But Amedy Coulibaly, who carried out several other attacks in conjunction with the Kouachis, including taking hostages at a kosher supermarket, had pledged loyalty to ISIL.
View original 434 more words
Al-Qaeda Group Claims Responsibility for Paris Terror Attack
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took responsibility on Friday for the attack on the Paris satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A statement provided to the Associated Press said “the leadership of AQAP directed the operations and they have chosen their target carefully.” The attack, which killed 12 people, was intended to as “revenge for the honor” of the Prophet Mohammad, the depiction of whom is forbidden by Islamic tradition. The magazine had repeatedly mocked him in cartoons.
The claim, which the unnamed spokesman said was delayed two days after Wednesday’s attack for “security reasons,” did not come as a shock. But one of the gunmen in the Charlie Hebdo attack shouted, “You can tell the media it was Al-Qaeda in Yemen” during the assault, according to a witness. And a the French news channel BFM Television reported that Said and Cherif Kouachi made the same claim in a…
View original 710 more words
Afghanistan and the Future
Al Qaeda and Islamic State
The War on Terror in Yemen
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Libya: Al Qaeda Safe Haven?
Al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda fighters turn to secretive chat rooms and encrypted message boards to plan attacks
WASHINGTON — Al-Qaeda fighters have been using secretive chat rooms and encrypted Internet message boards for planning and coordinating attacks — including the threatened if vague plot that U.S. officials say closed 19 diplomatic posts across Africa and the Middle East for more than a week.
It’s highly unlikely that Al-Qaeda’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, or his chief lieutenant in Yemen, Nasser al-Wahishi, were personally part of the Internet chatter or, given the intense manhunt for both by U.S. spy agencies, that they ever go online or pick up the phone to discuss terror plots, experts say.
But the unspecified call to arms by the Al-Qaeda leaders, using a multi-layered subterfuge to pass messages from couriers to tech-savvy underlings to attackers, provoked a quick reaction by the U.S. to protect Americans in far-flung corners of the world where the terror network is evolving into regional hubs.
For years, extremists have…
View original 1,259 more words
