Yemen Update

While I’ve been busy thinking and blogging about drones these past few weeks, things on the ground have continued to evolve even if there hasn’t been a great deal of movement.

Last week I gave two up-dates on the situation in Yemen the first to Robert Siegel of NPR’s All Things Considered, you can listen here. 

For the second I talked to Justin Elliott of Salon, who transcribed the interview here.

Also I highly recommend Robert Worth’s excellent piece in the NY Times Magazine from this past Sunday.  Yemen is a difficult place to get right, balancing competing narratives and different versions of events.  Most journalists give one angle a go, but Worth covers several in this fascinating piece that, for my money, gets Yemen right.   

Nearly a week ago, a British man was killed in Aden when his car exploded as he turned the ignition.  No one has yet to claim responsibility. 

On Sunday a suicide bomber, who has been identified as a Saudi (no confirmation from AQAP as of yet) drove his pick-up into a convoy of soldiers preparing to depart for Zanjubar, where militants have been fighting portions of what is left of Yemen’s military. 

And today, Nasir al-Wihayshi, the head of AQAP released a short 10 minute audio-tape, pledging allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri.  Essentially confirming that AQAP’s accepts him succeeding Osama bin Laden. 

(I have only listened to the tape once, and have yet to read through the transcript, so there will be more commentary to come as well as notes from what looks to be a fascinating (Ar.) interview al-Masdar did with an officer in the 25th Mechanized, which is the military unit fighting in Zanjubar.)