Yemen-based al-Qa‘ida in the Arabian Peninsula emerged in January 2009 following an announcement that unified Yemeni and Saudi operatives under a common banner and signaled the group’s intention to serve as a hub for regional operations targeting government and Western interests both in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The leadership of this new organization was composed of the group’s amir, Nasir al-Wahishi, and military commander Qasim al-Rimi, both veteran Yemeni extremist leaders, as well as two Saudis, one of whom surrendered to Saudi authorities in February.

AQAP’s predecessor, al-Qa‘ida in Yemen (AQY), emerged after the escape of 23 al-Qa‘ida members from a Political Security prison in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in February 2006. Several escapees helped reestablish the group and later identified fellow escapee al-Wahishi as the group’s new amir.

AQY operatives conducted near-simultaneous suicide attacks in September 2006 against separate oil facilities in Yemen, the first large-scale attack by the group since the prison escape. The group later claimed responsibility for the attack and, in its first Internet statement in November 2006, vowed to conduct further attacks. Al-Qa‘ida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri in a statement in December 2006 congratulated AQY and encouraged additional attacks.

AQY in early 2008 dramatically increased its operational tempo, carrying out small-arms attacks on foreign tourists and a series of mortar attacks against the US Embassy in Sanaa, Yemeni military complexes, the Italian Embassy, and the Presidential Compound. An al-Qa‘ida-affiliated group calling itself Jund al-Yaman (Soldiers of Yemen) issued a number of statements throughout 2008 claiming responsibility for the attacks on behalf of AQY. In September 2008 the group conducted its largest attack to date, targeting the US Embassy in Sanaa using two vehicle bombs that detonated outside the compound, killing 19 people, including six terrorists.

Since the group’s renaming in January, AQAP has carried out two attacks. An AQAP suicide bomber on 15 March attacked a group of South Korean tourists, killing four; three days later, a second suicide bomber attacked a convoy carrying the South Korean investigative team, though he succeeded only in killing himself.

AQAP is based primarily in the tribal areas outside of Sanaa, which for the most part remain outside the control of the Yemeni Government.