Jama'at Ansar al-Shari'a ( ar, جماعة أنصار الشريعة; '), also known as Ansar al-Shari'a, is a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

-based umbrella organization which includes units from several militant Islamic groups of

al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz ...

(AQAP). In 2011, AQAP created Ansar Al-Sharia as a Yemen-based affiliate focused on waging an insurgency rather than international attacks on the West. In the view of the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...

, AQAP is "an internally diverse organisation with varying layers of support among the local population" and many AAS members and allies are not committed to AQAP's international agenda. After the

Battle of Zinjibar The Battle of Zinjibar was a battle between forces loyal to Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and Islamist militant forces, possibly including elements of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), for control of the town of Zinjibar and its su ...

(May–September 2011), the faction had taken control of some cities in southern Yemen in which it has instated

emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

. Ansar ash-Shari'a have also claimed responsibility for the

2012 Sana'a bombing The 2012 Sana'a bombing was a suicide attack on 21 May 2012, against Yemeni Army soldiers practicing for the annual Unity Day military parade in Sana'a, Yemen. The ceremony is carried out every year on 22 May since 1990 to mark the Yemeni unifi ...

and the

2013 Sana'a attack The 2013 Sana'a attack occurred on 5 December 2013 when a series of bomb and mass shooting gun attacks killed at least 56 people and wounded 162 at the Yemeni Defense Ministry in Sana'a, Yemen. Yemeni military investigators say 12 militants, mo ...

. As of early 2017, AQAP and AAS were currently in a struggle for territorial control with the Houthi/Saleh forces in the governorates of al-Bayda, Shebwa, Marib, Jawf and Taiz. On 4 October 2012, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

amended its list of

Foreign Terrorist Organization Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved ...

s to designate Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen as an alias for

, rather than listing it as a separate organisation. On the same day, the group was also listed by the United Nations 1267/1989

Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council tasked with implementing international sanctions against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It was established as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanct ...

. New Zealand also listed it as a terror group.Designated Entities 26-11-2014
/ref> In February 2015, it was reported that some members had split from the group and pledged allegiance to the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. In January 2020, the group's leader Qasim al-Raymi, who also served as the leader of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, was killed in a U.S. airstrike.

References

Groups affiliated with al-Qaeda Jihadist groups in Yemen Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organizations of the Yemeni Crisis (2011–present) Paramilitary organizations based in Yemen Rebel groups in Yemen Terrorism in Yemen {{Terrorism-stub