Terrorist groups - home based:
al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP):
aim(s): overthrow the Yemen Government and, ultimately, establish a regional Islamic caliphate; eradicate Western influence and presence from Yemen and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula
area(s) of operation: a core al-Qa'ida affiliate that was headquartered in Al Mukalla, Hadramawt Governorate, until Yemeni forces and their allies drove AQAP from the city in April 2016; most active in southern, eastern, and central Yemen, especially in Abyan, Al Baydah, Hadramawt, Sabwah, and Ma'rib governorates; conducts ongoing attacks against Yemeni Government forces, officials, and facilities and Western embassies, diplomats, tourists, and Shia Muslims, oil facilities, and merchant ships, as well as Western and Saudi Arabian interests; assessed in 2015 to have up to 4,000 members
Terrorist groups - foreign based:
al-Qa'ida (AQ):
aim(s): overthrow the Yemen Government and, ultimately, establish a pan-Islamic caliphate under a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation of Sharia
area(s) of operation: operational throughout Yemen, in collaboration with its affiliate organization, al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL):
aim(s): replace the Yemen Government with an Islamic state and implement ISIL's strict interpretation of Sharia
area(s) of operation: operational primarily in 'Adan and the capital, Sanaa, where operatives conduct attacks against Shia Muslims and government facilities and personnel; claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in to 'Adan, where a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device on 29 August 2016, killing approximately 70 new recruits standing in line to register to join the military; suicide bombers detonated explosives on 20 March 2015 inside two Shia Muslim mosques in Sanaa, killing at least 137 worshippers and injuring over 300, which marked the first attack ISIL had claimed in Yemen; actively recruits Sunni Muslim youths; ISIL refers to Yemen as its Wilayat Sanaa; ISIL-Yemen was placed in the US State Department's designated global terror category under Executive Order 13224 on 19 May 2016