Initial discussions following the raid in Yakla speculated on the reason for such urgency on the part of US officials. Without much evidence, sources speculate the relationship between al-Dhahab’s younger generation and the global jihadist organization (AQAP) evolved beyond a local partnership against Houthis. Nabil and Tareq Ahmed al-Dhahab, uncles to Abd al-Rawuf and Sultan, developed close relations with AQAP during the era of Nasser al-Wuhayshi (d.2015). Others collaborated with Ma’moun Hatim, leader of Ansar al-Sharia, along two fronts; against the government in Sana’a and Houthis/Zaydis in the Central Region. But the ongoing civil war had undoubtedly contributed to the evolution of AQAP and its local allies, especially following the take-over of Mukalla by UAE allied forces in 2016. With cooperation rom allies, the US has indeed contained AQAP’s international operations and cannot afford to grant the group any breathing room. The presence of foreign elements at al-Dhahab’s compound add credibility to speculation over the possible role played by some Yemeni actors looking to advance their position in the armed conflict.The Al Dhahab clan of Qayfa tribe remains a well-known source of AQAP sympathizers, even as a number of them were also loyal members of the regime under former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Some clan members, like Hizam Ahmed al-Dhahab, worked in Saleh’s government. The connection to AQAP, which raised the story’s profile, extend further than al-Dhahab links with Anwar Nasser al-Awlaqi (who began his relationship with Nabil while both were in jail in Sana’a), as his 8-year old daughter was among the children killed during the raid. Anwar’s wife, Nawar’s mother, was Abd al-Rawuf’s sister, and by custom would have been part of those living in the compound with her relatives. Sources in Sana’a speculate the area where Nawar and her mother lived might have been targeted in order to extract some of Anwar’s old belongings, especially a computer.
Source: On the US raid in Yakla and Implications from Uncertainty: How Trump’s Chaos Aggravates the War in Yemen – Diwan
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News from The Associated Press – The raid illustrated the murkiness in distinguishing al-Qaida in Yemen, where the terror group has built up ties of one degree or another with the country’s many tribes – and has often used anger over civilians killed in American airstrikes to gain recruits. Al-Qaida has also emerged as a de facto ally of the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his backers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the Shiite rebels in a grueling civil war that has wreaked devastation, caused widespread hunger and killed more than 10,000 since late 2014. The result has been a tolerance for the militants after several years of the government cracking down on them.
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