Al Qaeda still reaping oil profits in Yemen despite battlefield reverses

Al Qaeda may have been pushed out of the enclave it carved out in Yemen as the country descended into civil war, but the militants are still entrenched in other parts of the country’s south, reaping profits from smuggled fuel.

Scores of militants were killed in a Gulf Arab-backed offensive on Al Qaeda’s de facto capital of Mukalla, Yemen’s third largest seaport, but hundreds fled to neighboring Shabwa province and beyond.

A month later, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is thriving by joining diverse armed groups in taxing fuel delivered illicitly to remote beaches along the Arabian Sea coast, security, tribal and shipping sources say.

Home to Yemen’s largest industrial project, a now-shut liquefied natural gas export facility at Belhaf, Shabwa is divided among al Qaeda, government troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Houthi forces and armed tribes.

Tribal sources say all sides are benefiting at a time of extreme fuel shortages around the country.

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Image courtesy of Reuters