Al-Qaeda has kidnapped six members of the security forces in Yemen, in Chabwa (south), a security official told AFP on Thursday, a rare incident as the war devastating the country allows a return jihadist groups.
Read also: In Yemen, the key battle of Marib
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa), like other extremist movements, is trying to take advantage of the security vacuum created by the conflict that has pitted government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, against the rebels for more than six years. Houthis, close to Iran. “
Two officers and three policemen (...) were lured two days ago (Tuesday) by men posing as tribal members. They fell into the trap and detained by the terrorist organization
, ”the official told AFP. The kidnapped men were taken to the neighboring region of Al-Bayda, he said. According to this official, another policeman, "
member of the elite forces
", was "
taken Wednesday evening to an unknown place
".
This kind of incident was rare in recent years, with Al Qaeda having been severely weakened by years of setbacks. But the country is witnessing the resurgence of the group seeking to profit from the war between the government and the Houthis. This return has strengthened since February, when the rebels launched an intense campaign on Marib (north) to wrest the last stronghold of government in the north, largely under Houthi control, from the hands of loyalists.
Author of the murderous attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015, Aqpa has suffered multiple defeats over the past three years, losing territories and combatants. In March, Yemeni intelligence officials told AFP that Aqpa, which had been "
almost wiped out,
" "
was training fighters again and rebuilding relations
" with local tribes. .