Yemen-based al-Qa‘ida in the Arabian Peninsula since 2009 has orchestrated high-profile attacks and expanded its activities outside of Yemen, most notably by sending Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight on 25 December 2009—to engage in the first US homeland attack by an al-Qa‘ida affiliate since
11 September 2001. Dual US-Yemeni citizen and radical ideologue Anwar al-Aulaqi is a known leader of AQAP. Al-Aulaqi has been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Government.

AQAP 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 local government and Western interests both in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The group is now pursuing a global strategy. The leadership of this new organization was composed of the group’s amir Nasir al-Wahishi, deputy amir Sa‘id al-Shahri, and military commander Qasim al-Rimi, all veteran extremist leaders.

AQAP’s predecessor, al-Qa‘ida in Yemen (AQY), came into existence after the escape of 23 al-Qa‘ida members from 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. AQY later claimed responsibility for the attack and, in its first Internet statement in November 2006, vowed to conduct further attacks. Al-Qa‘ida’s 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 and Italian Embassies in Sanaa, the Presidential Compound, and Yemeni military complexes. 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.

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