Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch eyes a new haven

NAIROBI — Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen is focusing on expanding its presence in a remote eastern province that is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, even as it remains the target of U.S. drone strikes and Yemeni military assaults, according to Yemeni officials.

Last year, a U.S.-backed Yemeni military offensive drove the militants from the southern province of Abyan, which the fighters had seized during the country’s Arab Spring revolt and controlled for more than a year as they sought to create an Islamic emirate from which to attack the Yemeni government and Western targets.

But in recent months, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, as the affiliate is known, has bolstered its presence in Hadramaut, the country’s largest province, whose name some scholars say roughly translates as “Death is among us.” The region abuts Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.

“After the ousting of al-Qaeda from Abyan and the fleeing of the armed militants to different areas, it seems that al-Qaeda has shifted its attention toward Hadramaut,” said Ali Alsarari, a political adviser to Yemen’s prime minister, Mohammed Basindwa. “They control some areas and are trying to do what they did in Abyan.”

AQAP’s ambition of creating a new safe haven in Yemen was underscored this week when news broke that the Yemeni government had foiled a plot by the militants to seize Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramaut and a vital sea port, as well as destroy an oil pipeline and gas facilities. It was the first time, officials said, that AQAP had tried to take over Mukalla.

“It surprised us that they would try to seize the city,” said Rajeh Badi, a spokesman for Basindwa.

The group’s increasing boldness comes as its ties to al-Qaeda’s central branch in Pakistan and its profile in jihadist circles are growing. AQAP leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who was once bin Laden’s personal secretary, now holds the No. 2 position in the terrorist network, second only to Ayman al-Zawahiri, according to analysts.

The interception last week of a discussion between the two leaders of a potential attack on Western targets prompted the closure of 19 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa, as well as a global travel alert. In Yemen, the State Department this week evacuated non-emergency personnel from its embassy in the capital, Sanaa. Although the raids on the port and pipeline were thwarted, U.S. officials said they remain on alert for other attacks because they believe that plot might have been part of a broader plan.

The Obama administration considers AQAP among the greatest threats to American soil. The group sent parcel bombs on flights into the United States in 2010 and orchestrated a foiled plot to bomb an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day of 2009. In response, the administration unleashed a lethal campaign of drone strikes across southern and eastern Yemen that has killed AQAP militants but also bred anger and fostered sympathy for the group among many Yemenis.

In light of the growing criticism, the administration had cut back on attacks this year. Recently, however, the pace has intensified. On Thursday, a suspected U.S. drone strike killed six alleged militants in Marib province — the sixth such attack in the past two weeks. Since July 27, drone attacks have killed 31 suspected militants, according to an Associated Press count of the dead provided by Yemeni security officials.