Yemen | April 27, 2022
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April 3, 2015 - Two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it. This seems to illustrate the current situation in Yemen, where two enemies of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Saudi Arabia and Zaydi Houthi rebels, are fighting one another. According to a recent Al Monitor article, AQAP is "under less pressure than at any time since itsfounding in 2009" and it even flourishes in eastern Yemen. Amidst the chaos of the warring parties, AQAP is increasingly free to recruit and train. This makes the terrorist group even more dangerous. Al Monitor expects that the longer the war takes, the more AQAP will benefit from it. This poses a serious threat to the stability of the Arabian Peninsula and its broader region. As the conflict drags on, more countries risk being involved in the Saudi-Iranian battle for regional hegemony which will further sharpen sectarian fault lines in the Middle East. Also, AQAP might try to attack targets in Europe and North America. Its influence reaches far beyond Yemen, as was shown by the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris of which it claimed credits in terms of financing and training of the attackers.
According to the persecution analyst of World Watch Research, "It goes without saying that such a situation of lawlessness and further increase of AQAP activity is very bad for the Christians in Yemen, whose situation is already deplorable. Previously, there was some religious freedom for foreign Christians, who are mostly migrant workers from the Horn of Africa. However, amidst the turmoil and imminent terrorist threat no church services are held in the last three churches of Yemen. Christians can only meet for worship in private gatherings at home or at secret places outside. Under the current circumstances, the existence of the small community of Christians in Yemen is being seriously threatened."
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