Aden-Abyan Islamic Army

Aden-Abyan Islamic Army
جيش عدن أبين الإسلامي
Leaders	Abu Hasan Zayn al-Abadin al-Mihdhar (1996 or 1997–1998) †[1] Khalid Abd al-Nabi (1998–2009)
Dates of operation	1996 or 1997–2009[2]
Headquarters	Abyan, Yemen
Active regions	Southern Yemen
Ideology	Salafist jihadism Islamic fundamentalism
Size	30–100[3]
Allies	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Ansar al-Sharia
Opponents	Yemen
Battles and wars	Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen December 1998 kidnapping of western tourists in Yemen Attempted bombing of the USS The Sullivans

The Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA, Arabic: جيش عدن أبين الإسلامي) was a Sunni Islamist militant group based in southern Yemen founded by Abu Hasan Zayn al-Abadin al-Mihdhar.^[4] The groups goals were to overthrow the Yemeni government and establish an Islamic state, as well as support the jihad of al-Qaeda.^[5] AAIA was designated a terrorist organization by Bahrain,^[6] Canada and the United Kingdom.^[7] AAIA is thought to have organized in southern Yemen in the mid 1990s, with members that include veterans from the Soviet war in Afghanistan.^[8] Their stated mission is to "promote jihad in the fight against secularism in Yemen and other Arab States; to establish an Islamic government in Yemen".^[9] By 2009, the group's remaining members had subsumed in the newly formed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.^[10]

During the Soviet-Afghan War, thousands of Yemenis joined the Afghan mujahideen and took part in jihad against the Soviet Union before returning to Yemen after their withdrawal.^[11] Among these returning veterans in the early 1990's included commander Abu Hasan Zayn al-Abadin al-Mihdhar, a native of Shabwah governorate who managed to recruit various fighters under his command in Afghanistan.^[12] These fighters would be utilized and directly supported by the Yemeni government and military commander Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar to fight the southern secessionist Yemeni Socialist Party during the Yemeni civil war of 1994.^[12] President Ali Abdullah Saleh had promised the fighters that once the war was over the government would implement sharia law, though this promise was never fulfilled.^[13] After the war, al-Mihdhar and his fighters officially formed the AAIA in 1996 or 1997 in order to fulfil the establishment of an Islamic state.^[14][11]

The group's first activities were conducted in May 1998 and June 1998 when it started releasing various declarations criticizing the policies of the Yemeni government.^[15][11] In December 1998, AAIA militants kidnapped a group of 16 Western tourists in Abyan governorate, demanding the Yemeni government release two recently arrested Islamist clerics operating in southern Yemen.^[16][15] The Yemeni military launched a rescue operation the subsequent day, raiding an AAIA hideout in a battle which killed four of the tourists and several militants, as well as the capture of al-Mihdhar, who was executed a year later.^[11][16] The Yemeni government publicly stated that the AAIA was dismantled after the attack, though most independent sources maintain that the group remained active, albeit significantly weakened.^[17][12]

In January 2000, the AAIA directly collaborated with al-Qaeda in an attempt to bomb the USS The Sullivans by loading a boat with remote controlled explosives, though the attack was a failure as the boat immediately sank.^[15] In October 2000, two al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY) skiff drivers bombed the USS Cole off the harbor of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors.^[18] Though the AAIA, along with multiple other organizations, claimed responsibility for the attack, American and Yemeni officials determined that the attack was conducted directly by al-Qaeda affiliates in the country.^[15][11][14] In November 2002, a CIA drone strike in Marib governorate killed AQY leader Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi along with four AAIA members travelling together in a car.^[19][11]

On 22 June 2003, AAIA militants attacked an army medical convoy providing humanitarian work near the mountainous Jabal Hatat region in Abyan, wounding seven.^[20] In response, on 25 June 2003 Yemeni forces launched a major offensive against AAIA strongholds in Jabal Hatat.^[15][21] At that point, nearly 80 AAIA members were reportedly besieged in the mountains.^[20] The offensive lead to the arrest of 11 AAIA members and the deaths of six, including AAIA leader Khalid Abd al-Nabi, though authorities later stated that they had mistaken another militant for al-Nabi.^[22] In September 2003, the Yemeni government announced that they would grant amnesty to al-Qaeda linked militants so long as they renounced their extremist views and refrain from violence.^[22] In October 2003, al-Nabi was turned himself in and was released by authorities after renouncing violence.^[5][23] In November 2003, the government pardoned and released 93 militants, including 54 AAIA members from Jabal Hatat who had surrendered since the amnesty was announced.^[24][21]