US Killing Of Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda Leader Unlikely To Help Defeat Terrorism In Yemen

US Killing of Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda Leader Unlikely to Help Defeat Terrorism in Yemen

The recent killing of the founder and leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP, banned in Russia), Qasim al-Rimi, by the US forces will unlikely give much momentum in Yemen's fight against terrorism since the terrorist group has every opportunity to restructure its leadership, experts told Sputnik

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2020) The recent killing of the founder and leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP, banned in Russia), Qasim al-Rimi, by the US forces will unlikely give much momentum in Yemen's fight against terrorism since the terrorist group has every opportunity to restructure its leadership, experts told Sputnik.

On February 7, the White House confirmed that al-Rimi, a deputy to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, had been killed during a counterterrorism operation in Yemen.

Amalendu Misra, a senior lecturer in the Department of politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University, believed that the killing of al-Rimi "would put a temporary thaw in the civil war dynamics in the region," but in the long run would only help al-Qaeda-sponsored militants deal with their detractors and enemies more actively.

"Indeed, the killing of Qasim al-Rimi in the US counterterrorism operation is a strategic loss to al-Qaeda. However, al-Qaeda has always shown resilience in the face of defeat. It might take some time to regroup and reorganize itself. And, it is too early to say we have seen an end of it, in the region in general and Yemen in particular," Misra told Sputnik.

According to the expert, the situation may transform into a long-term armed counterterrorism engagement.

Kanishkan Sathasivam, a professor of international relations in the Department of Political Science at Salem State University, agreed that while al-Rimi's death was a "significant event," it was unlikely to put an end to AQAP activities in Yemen.

"Given that Yemen is essentially a failed state at this point with no true functioning government, it is much more easy for an organization like AQAP to go into hiding and rebuild itself in time," Sathasivam told Sputnik.

According to the expert, the situation with the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) in Iraq and Syria was different because the governments of these states had been able to take back control of its territories and prevent militants form regrouping.

Al-Rimi's death, on the other hand, could still play an important role in ending the Yemen civil war through negotiations, since the possibility of external players such as Saudi Arabia accepting a negotiated outcome largely depended on the terror threat level, Sathasivam said.

"If that threat is now neutralized, these players may be more willing to accept a negotiated end to the war that allows the Houthis to be a part of the post-war political structure in Yemen," he concluded.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the rebel Houthi movement for several years now. A Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.

In December 2018, Yemen's warring parties signed a UN-backed agreement in Sweden that stipulated a ceasefire in the port of Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and the establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.

According to UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, although the implementation of the Stockholm agreement has not been satisfactory, the number of airstrikes in Yemen has reduced by 80 percent in recent months.