Al-Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula - Ansar Al-Sharia

Ansar Al-Sharia

In the wake of the 2011 Yemeni revolution, an Islamist insurgent organisation called Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen) (supporters of Islamic Law), emerged in Yemen and began to seize control of areas in the Abyan Governorate and surrounding governorates and declaring them an Islamic emirate. There was heavy fighting with the Yemeni security forces over the control of these territories, with Ansar al-Sharia driven out of most of their territory over 2012.

On 4 October 2012, the United Nations 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the United States State Department designated Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen) as an alias for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The State Department described the establishment of Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen) as an attempt to attract followers in areas of Yemen where AQAP had been able to establish territorial control and implement it's interpretation of Sharia.