--- title: AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know | TIME description: yemen_export_H264 canonical: https://time.com/video/jQ498jDt/ og:title: AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know og:description: yemen_export_H264 og:url: https://time.com/video/jQ498jDt/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jQ498jDt/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know twitter:description: yemen_export_H264 twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jQ498jDt/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know [Watch (HLS stream): AQAP's Role in the Al Qaeda Network: What You Need To Know](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jQ498jDt.m3u8) (3:08)  _Published 2013-12-06. yemen_export_H264_ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:00 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [H264 Export Video Portrait v2](/video/Hel9Kuy4/) ### H264 Export Video Portrait v2 [worldcup_export_H264](/video/bweyfbsY/) ### worldcup\_export\_H264 [Volatile Yemen: Uprisings and Al-Qaeda](/video/WcyRFD4d/) ### Volatile Yemen: Uprisings and Al-Qaeda --- ## Transcript >> al Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula also known as AQAP is a small but highly ambitious franchise of the terrorist group. Here is what you need to know about them. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is one of the oldest and most ambitious of this terrorist group's many franchises around the world. Yemen's connections with al Qaeda run very deep. After all, Osama Bin Laden's ancestors came from Yemen and AQAP has been operating in that country for well over a decade. They first came into prominence in 2000 when they attacked the USS Cole, an American warship docked in Aden Harbor, killing 17 American soldiers. More recently, they have been the only real franchise of al Qaeda that continues to harbor ambitions of attacking the West. They were responsible in 2009 for sending a young Nigerian suicide bomber on an aircraft bound for Detroit with a bomb that was built into his underwear. That attack was foiled. The following year, 2010, they managed to place two explosive devices into cargo planes that were bound for Chicago. There was a tip- off and the bombs were removed from the planes. More recently, AQAP has been focusing on domestic targets. In 2012, a suicide attack on a military parade in Sana'a killed 120 soldiers. And this latest attack also in Sana'a against the Defense Ministry suggests that the group has now become more ambitious in its domestic operations. AQAP operates mostly in southern and eastern Yemen and that is territory that is right for that kind of operation because although governance in Sana'a, the capital, has improved recently, out in the provinces especially in the areas of the country that are mostly desert. The quality of policing and governance is quite poor and it allows local tribesmen to give shelter to militants coming in from AQAP. A large number of AQAP's fighters and a lot of its leadership is thought to be of Saudi nationality. They are able to slip in and out of Saudi Arabia through the long border between the two countries. The group's leader is a man is Nasser Wuhayshi. He is one of the most wanted men in the Arab world. The other important figure in AQAP is Ibrahim al- Asiri. The man was responsible for their bombing campaigns. He is thought to be the mastermind behind the [ unk ] air bomb for instance and he is thought to be one of the most dangerous people in the world because of his technical skills and his absolute determination to attack western targets. The United States gives Yemen over $ 100 million in aid and a lot of that money goes into building up this latest attack against a defense ministry target. 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