CNN
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Here’s a Look at the Sunni Extremist Group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Al Qaeda’s Yemeni-based branch, AQAP, emerged when Al Qaeda in Saudi Arab And Yemen Integrated in 2009
Many analysts believe that AQAP is Al Qaeda’s most dangerous ally.
The main goals of AQAP include establishing a caliphate in the Arabian Peninsula, enforcing Sharia law, and targeting local, US and Western interests in the Arabian Peninsula and around the world. AQAP has targeted several embassies, as well as foreign tourists, using car bombs and suicide bombs.
The State Department estimates that AQAP has a maximum of 4,000 members.
Anwar Al Awlaki Served as spokesperson for AQAP until his death in 2011.
Nasser al-Wuhashi, no. Al Qaeda’s second leader Globally, served as the leader of AQAP until his death in 2015.
Al-Wuhashi was succeeded by AQAP’s military commander, Qasim al-Rimi.
AQAP is funded through robberies and kidnappings as well as donations from supporters.
In an effort to rebrand, AQAP sometimes goes by the alias. Ansar Al-Sharia (AAS), meaning “supporter of Islamic law.” However, several groups have taken the name Ansar al-Sharia, and Not all are affiliated with AQAP.
12 October 2000 – USS ColeAl Qaeda bombed an anchorage in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 American sailors.
12 June 2004 – US contractor Paul Johnson kidnapped near Riyadh, Saudi Arab. Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia hanged him several days later.
February 2006 – Twenty three prisoners escaped from a jail in Sana’a. 13 Al Qaeda members have been indicted, including Jamal al-Badawi, who plotted the attack on the USS Cole, and al-Wuhaishi, bin Laden’s former secretary. They establish Al Qaeda in Yemen (AQY).
September 17, 2008 – Two vehicle bombs explode outside US embassy in Sana’a, At least 10 killed, including an American.
January 2009 – The Saudi Arabian and Yemeni branches of Al Qaeda unite to officially form AQAP. Al-Wuhashi becomes the leader of the group.
5 November 2009 – Army Major Nidal Hassan kills 13 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. According to the US government, al-Awlaki is suspected of communicating with Hassan.
25 December 2009 – Nigerian Omar Farooq Abdul Mutallab, “Underwear Bomber,” Attempts to Destroy Northwest Airlines Flight as It Lands in Detroit. The bomb tied to him failed to detonate properly, only injuring Abdul Mutallab. He had previously spent time in Yemen, and US officials later determined that AQAP was behind the attack.
January 19, 2010 – the United States nominates AQAP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
September 30, 2011 – AQAP spokesman al-Awlaki killed in a CIA drone strike near Khashef in Yemen.
21 May 2012 – A suicide bomber killed at least 96 soldiers and injured more than 300 in Sanaa, Yemen. AQAP’s front group Ansar al-Sharia has claimed responsibility.
24 January 2013 – The Yemeni government confirms that Saeed al-Shahri, the second in command of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has died after being wounded on November 28, 2012.
5 December 2013 – Deadly attack by militants on Yemen’s Defense Ministry in Sanaa, the vehicle laden with explosives hit the building, after which the gunmen inside the security forces attacked. According to the official Sabah news agency, the attack targeted a hospital in the Defense Ministry complex. At least 52 people, including four foreign doctors, have been killed in the attack.
22 April 2014 – At least 65 suspected AQAP terrorists killed In a multi-day operation combining recent firefights and US-aided drone strikes that included ground combat and drone strikes. Yemeni officials maintain that the United States assisted in the ground campaign but did not participate in the war. The United States did not comment; However, CIA drones are suspected of targeting al Qaeda fighters, weapons bases and a training camp.
November 2014 – Isis, once an offshoot of al Qaeda, announced plans Expanding its caliphate in Yemen, creating the first public rift between ISIS and AQAP.
14 January 2015 – AQAP has claimed responsibility for the attack on the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris In which 12 people were killed on 7 January. However, experts could not confirm whether the group was behind the attack.
16 June 2015 – AQAP confirms that their second command al-Wuhashi has been killed US drone strike in Yemen. Al-Wuhayshi will be replaced by AQAP’s military chief, Qassem al-Rimi.
9 July 2015 – Rimi released a video message online, call for attack on america.
February 4, 2017 – Rimi released an audio message taunt US President Donald Trump After the US military raid on Yemen on January 29.
July 2018 – June report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has been published, which states that Ibrahim al-Asiri, The bomb master behind a 2009 attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day may have been killed in Yemen during the second half of 2017. Several US officials in various parts of the government told CNN they were weighing evidence that Asiri was dead.
February 6, 2020 – The White House announces that Rimi has been killed Airstrike in Yemen.
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