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05/02/2024 07:35:04 am

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Deepening Sectarianism in Yemen Is Dangerous, Says Expert

Yemen conflict

(Photo : REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah ) Houthi fighters stand near a damaged guard post at a Presidential Guards barracks they took over on a mountain overlooking the Presidential Palace in Sanaa January 20, 2015.

The recent attacks in Yemen, which were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) allied local group, sparked new threats of deepening sectarianism in Yemen as projected by some experts.

This warning of dangerous sectarianism was prompted by the Friday suicide attacks in the two mosques in Sanaa which killed 142 people and wounded more than a hundred of people. The bombing was claimed by an IS-allied local group in Yemen.

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The well-established Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen did not say anything about the Friday's attacks. The IS-allied local group in Yemen, however, claimed responsibility of the attack.

This was the first time in Yemen that such group claimed responsibility of a terror attack.

 "The emergence of IS in Yemen may fuel a broader sectarian conflict," said Alexis Knutsen, a Yemeni analyst who is involved with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats project in Washington.

"The conflict has reached a tipping point and the international community needs to get both the al Houthis and Hadi to the negotiating table before the situation spirals out of control," Knutsen added.

The Zaydi militia Houthis has a stronghold in northern Yemen, including its capital Sanaa. The AQAP and the IS-allied local group both view the Houthis as heretics.

Knutsen said that the Houthis may use the Friday's attack as a way to further go after the Sunni rebels and the anti-Houthis.

The conflict of these two rival groups can be manifested with the series of attacks from both Houthis and AQAP against each other earlier this year. The American and other diplomatic missions in Sanaa were even terminated in February due to deteriorating security.

The United States has also announced its plan to pull-out its remaining Special Operations troops from Yemen's Al Anad Air Base.

"It's going to be extremely difficult for the U.S. to implement any counter AQAP or ISIS strategy," Knutsen claimed. "The U.S. needs to figure out the state of our intelligence on Yemen and whether we can salvage a counter-terrorism partnership from some of Yemen's intact military units."

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