---
description: TIME contract photographer Yuri Kozyrev and editor-at-large Bobby Ghosh traveled to southern Abyan province in Yemen for this week's cover story in TIME International. Here, Ghosh recounts their travels with a Yemeni Central Security Force (CSF) patrol through territory plagued by al-Qaeda.
title: The End of Al Qaeda: On Patrol in Yemen by Yuri Kozyrev
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50056be8bf92cd60/69879fa5cd68482a8d09bb21/koy20120716083.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
---
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# The End of al-Qaeda? On Patrol in Yemen by Yuri Kozyrev
by
[Bobby Ghosh](/author/bobby-ghosh/)
## Bobby Ghosh
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Ghosh, a former TIME foreign correspondent and International Editor, is a commentator on geopolitics.
Sep 10, 2012 8:00 AM CUT
The following photographs were taken in July 2012 A member of the 'Popular Committee' in Hajjar takes a mid-afternoon break to chew "qat," a mildly narcotic leaf favored by Yemenis.
The following photographs were taken in July 2012 A member of the 'Popular Committee' in Hajjar takes a mid-afternoon break to chew "qat," a mildly narcotic leaf favored by Yemenis.Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
by
[Bobby Ghosh](/author/bobby-ghosh/)
## Bobby Ghosh
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Ghosh, a former TIME foreign correspondent and International Editor, is a commentator on geopolitics.
Sep 10, 2012 8:00 AM CUT
Yuri Kozyrev and I have spent more hours than we care to remember on ’embed’ with the great militaries of the world—American, Russian, NATO, Indian. But a chance to travel with a Yemeni Central Security Force (CSF) patrol in the southern Abyan province had both of us filled with nervous excitement. We were keenly aware that Yemen, a desperately poor nation at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, doesn’t exactly have the best-equipped army. And yet this army had just dealt al-Qaeda a major military blow in Abyan, earning the respect of all soldiers who have fought against fanatical jihadists, and those of us who have covered those battles.
We were told to bring our own vehicle because the CSF patrol was comprised of a single Toyota pickup truck, and there was no room for passengers. We met our escort on the outskirts of the port of Aden on a day the temperature topped 120 degrees and the humidity, 90%. In that heat, Yuri and I were grateful that, unlike the U.S. military, the Yemeni CSF did not require us to wear body-armor: the soldiers had none themselves. But we knew we were going into towns and villages where many al-Qaeda fighters were still at large, living among the population and just waiting for a chance to strike at the Yemeni military. The leader of our patrol, 2nd Lieutenant Tariq Bishr, warned us that we could take sniper fire at any moment.
There was also a risk we could hit a landmine: the retreating jihadists had planted thousands of them on the roads leading to the major towns of Zinjibar and Jaar. In those towns, many homes and offices were booby-trapped, designed to kill civilians (many of whom had fled when al-Qaeda had taken over) as they came home.
But if any of this worried Yuri, he didn’t show it: I’ve known from working with him for a decade that he is unflinchingly fearless under fire. He quickly developed a rapport with the soldiers in our patrol, overcoming any concerns they may have had about having to baby-sit a pair of foreigners in a dangerous place. At the start of the patrol, Lieutenant Bishr and his men were nervous about Yuri’s camera, mainly because it attracted too much attention from bystanders. But within a couple of hours, the soldiers had become Yuri’s spotters, pointing out photo opportunities and posing for pictures themselves.
The result is this series of pictures, which offers a rare glimpse into an important battlefield in the war on terror. But it’s worth remembering these were only possible because of the valor of Lieutenant Bishr and his men.
_Bobby Ghosh is an editor-at-large at TIME. Read his cover story from Yemen in this week’s issue of TIME_ [_here_](http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2123810,00.html "undefined")_._
_Yuri Kozyrev is a contract photographer for TIME and was named the 2011_ [_Photographer of the Year_](http://www.poyi.org/69/41/ "undefined") _in the Pictures of the Year International competition._
The following photographs were taken in July 2012 A member of the 'Popular Committee' in Hajjar takes a mid-afternoon break to chew "qat," a mildly narcotic leaf favored by Yemenis. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Members of Yemen's Central Security Force (CSF) patrol the streets of Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Soldiers from Yemen's CSF guard a checkpoint on the southern edge of Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
A Yemeni policeman retrieves a fixture of a destroyed water-fountain outside the Governor's Office in Zinjibar. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) occupied a large swath of Abyan before being driven out by a combination of government troops, armed citizen groups and U.S. drone attacks. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Tariq Bishr, 2nd Lieutenant of the 5th Battalion, 3rd Brigade of Yemen's CSF surveys damage done by an airstrike on the government in Jaar, in Abyan province. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
The black flag of al-Qaeda hangs limply on the outskirts of Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Ifaq Ali Abdallah (left), 22, and Khalid Abdel Azziz (right), 32, are victims of al-Qaeda's rough justice. Accused of stealing, they were summarily tried and sentenced to have their right hands amputated with a saw at the wrist. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
In Zinjibar, in Abyan province, used machine-gun shells, tank shells and rocket containers are gathered to be sold as scrap. al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) occupied a big swath of Abyan before being driven out by a combination of government troops, armed groups of citizens and U.S. drone attacks. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
A soldier stands guard on the outskirts of Hajjar. The village remains mostly inaccessible because of mines and booby-traps set by fleeing al-Qaeda fighters. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Members of Yemen's CSF inspect the bombed-out shell of the Governor's Office in Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
A child, one of a few still living in town, plays in the streets of Zinjibar. Most of the townsfolk fled when al-Qaeda fighters took it over in early 2011. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
In the ruins of a mosque in the bombed-out village of Hajjar, in Abyan province, an armed member of the local "Popular Committee" (a vigilante group) and two soldiers chew qat. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Soldiers from Yemen's CSF take a mid-afternoon break to chew qat. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Hael al-Jahmi, a gunner with the 5th Battalion, 3rd Brigade of Yemen's CSF stands atop a destroyed tank used by al-Qaeda in the southern edge of the town of Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Soldier from the 5th Battalion, 3rd Brigade of Yemen's Central Security Force takes a break at a checkpoint on the southern edge of Zinjibar, in Abyan province. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Mohammed Absullah Al-Walid, 24, deputy commander of Zinjibar's 'Popular Committee' with his fighters. Popular Committees–armed groups of citizens who rose against al-Qaeda–were key to the Yemeni government's ability to reclaim Abyan province. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Fatoumah Suleiman (center) and her six children are are from a village just outside Zinjibar. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Suleiman and her family are now stranded in a refugee camp in Aden. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
At a makeshift refugee camp in a school in Aden, Ahmed Saeed Buqair of Zinjibar waits for the day he and his 28-member family can go home. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
Sousan Mohammed Said, 30, lives with her mother-in-law and son in a makeshift refugee camp in Aden. Natives of Zinjibar, her husband was killed by a booby-trap when he tried to return home after the town was liberated from al-Qaeda rule. Yuri Kozyrev–NOOR for TIME
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