The government is claiming that the Houthi’s have kidnapped 15 Red Crescent aid workers. If true, this is very big news- it might reveal something about the June kidnappings, and […]
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The trusty visitor counter suggests that Waq al-waq has had several hundred new visitors to the blog yesterday. So, first: Welcome. Second for those of you looking for history of […]
Anyone else having problems with al-Falluja (not spelled that way in the address)? Of course, this is the problem with following jihadi forums, as the loss of al-Ikhlas last September […]
This should not come as a surprise: the US and UK embassies have been closed, citing security threats. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is going to retaliate, the only question […]
As myself and now what I assume to be hundreds of new AQAP watchers wait anxiously for the new release of Sada al-Malahim, I thought I would link to this […]
We are still getting the hang of this blogging thing and so we ask that you bear with us as we continue to iron a few things out, like, say, […]
Well it should come as no surprise to many who read this blog on a regular basis, but June has not been a good month for Yemen – a suicide […]
Mohammed al-Qadhi has another good piece on the tremors just under the surface as the anniversary approaches.The money quote, in my opinion:“Mr Saleh formed special fact-finding committees in 2007 to […]
The Yemen Observer– a paper that has never been accused of government affiliation- is reports that Tariq al-Fadhli’s brother is saying that Tariq has been given a three-day ultimatum, or […]
As promised the video of my talk from the New American Foundation conference is now available here. It also has Ken Ballen’s excellent presentation and some Q and A.
Yesterday I wrote about ‘Abdullah al-Midhar escaping from Yemeni security forces in Shabwa. His freedom, it seems, did not last long. Numerous English language reports have the news of his […]
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula continues its recent media blitz with an audio tape that has been released to the forums (thanks to Ibn Siqilli for the tip). The tape […]
For those with an interest I will be part of a panel – I think, I will be unless they have booked my evil twin, who insists on spelling Johnsen […]
The fighting continues, with reinforcements coming from Aden. More than 26 suspects are reported to have been arrested since the start of fighting. Al-Tagheer is reporting similar things – they […]
Three of the kidnapped individuals have been found dead in Yemen, we are trying to get more news. The identity of who kidnapped the 9 is still unclear.Update: al-Sahwa is […]
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy was kind enough to ask me to contribute a piece to its Policy Watch series, the result has just been released and is […]
The Center for a New American Security has just put out a new report written by Andrew Exum and Richard Fontaine entitled: “On the Knife’s Edge: Yemen’s Instability and the […]
One of the issues I have been getting a number of questions on lately is the links (imagined and otherwise) between AQAP and al-Shabab in Somalia. This NPR story, for […]
I finally found time – between various projects and other more personal concerns – to read Nasir al-Wahayshi’s opening article in Sada al-Malahim, and while I can’t give a full […]
CNN chats about Yemen with Bernard Haykel.I talk about Yemen with a station in Seattle (I think somewhere in the middle)Brian talks to NPR’s On the Media.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is roughly three weeks late with issue 11 of Sada al–Malahim, and while there has been little word on the delay, the group has released […]
Al-Ghad is finally out, and the paper is reporting about potential threats to oil facilities in Aden. This is of particular concern to a number of people, and there is […]
It is late here but I’m watching al-Hurra’s Free Hour, as you all should be, it is pretty much like I remember it – people screaming at each other, right […]
The story Waq al-waq reported yesterday about the former Guantanamo detainee and another wanted Saudi militant found dead in Sa’dah continues to evolve. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to […]
It what is easily the most exciting Yemen-based news of the day (cue tumbleweed), I have a new column out about the dangers of comparing Yemen to Afghanistan/Somalia. It would […]
Getting a bit tired of short blog posts, and looking for something more to really sink your teeth into over the weekend? Well, then, I would suggest this piece at […]
See, the “joke” in the subject line works because the English language has words that sound alike, but with different meanings. Here I am “playing” on them, so to speak. […]
In a number of conversations I had yesterday with both governmental and non-governmental sources it does seem clear that the two year delay for parliamentary elections, which we talked about […]
One of the things (out of many) that we here at Waq al-waq have neglected to cover over the past few weeks is the elections of officers for the Yemeni […]
By posting – and in doing so interrupting my vacation – I am doing two things I don’t usually do. First, posting after promising not to blog. And Second, linking […]