ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
August 30 and the end of the year. Militants killed 92 security
personnel during clashes. On September 12, PKK militants
injured about 50 persons with acar bomb near the
AKP provincial headquarters in the city of Van, eponymous
province. Two days later, PKK militants shot dead the AKP's
former Hakkari candidate in the 2015 parliamentary elections
in Semdinli district, Hakkari. In retaliation, TAF killed five PKK
militants in an aerial operation in Hakkari, on September 16.
In another attack against AKP politicians, PKK militants killed
the AKP deputy leader in Ozalp district, Van, on October 9.
On October 20, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced
that the government would recruit 5,000 additional village
guards to combat PKK.
On November 4, Demirtas and his HDP co-leader, Figen
Yuksedag, as well as several other HDP lawmakers were arrested
due to alleged PKK-links. Hours later, a Diyarbakir
police station, where the detainees were reportedly held,
was attacked with abomb-laden mini-bus, killing two police
officers and nine civilians, among them two DBP politicians,
while injuring at least 100. As in several previous incidents,
the government subsequently restricted social media access
and ordered a news embargo on the incident. The same day,
the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack
on its ''Amaq News Agency” [→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)].
Two days later, TAK also claimed the attack, further condemning
repressive AKP measures against democrats, leftists, and
socialists as well as expressing condolences for killed DBP
politicians during the attack.
On December 10, TAK killed 37 police officers, as well as
seven civilians, and injured over 150 people in a double
suicide bombing outside the stadium in Istanbul's Besiktas
neighborhood. Furthermore, TAK conducted another suicide
bomb attack in Kayseri city, killing 14 soldiers and injuring
over 55 people on December 17. Throughout December, TAF
killed at least 110 PKK militants and arrested 42 in nationwide
anti-terror operations. Moreover, 55 security personnel
and ten civilians were killed during these operations. In total,
about 1,140 alleged PKK supporters were detained in
December. pko, yal
YEMEN (AQAP–AL-HOUTHI)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1992
its forces fighting alongside Sunni militias against al-Houthi
forces [→ Yemen, Saudi Arabia (al-Houthi)] in Taiz City, Taiz
governorate, and destroying ''polytheist shrines” in the city.
On January 15, AQAP militants killed a member of the
Supreme Revolutionary Committee, the interim ruling body
of the al-Houthis, in Sana'a. On January 23, AQAP militants
killed an al-Houthi commander during several attacks against
al-Houthi positions in al-Bayda. On the night of April 19 to
20, AQAP and al-Houthis conducted the largest prisoner exchange
between the two militias in al-Bayda. The exchange
included 47 al-Houthi members and 49 AQAP members. On
June 12, al-Houthi forces killed an AQAP commander during
clashes in al-Bayda.
On June 22, al-Houthi forces attacked the home of an alleged
AQAP affiliate in Nadirah, Ibb, using explosives and killing
eight AQAP militants, injuring seven and arresting 15. They
abducted his family, looted and destroyed the house. Furthermore,
they killed seven and injured three civilians working
on anearby farm. Beginning in October, AQAP intensified
its attacks against al-Houthi forces in al-Bayda and Ibb,
leading to nearly daily attacks in December. For instance, between
October 10 and 23, AQAP claimed to have killed six al
Houthi-Saleh commanders in Ibb. On December 2, AQAP militants
killed seven al-Houthis in the southwest of Ibb.
Between December 5and 12, AQAP militants conducted six
attacks against positions of al-Houthi forces in al-Bayda City,
al-Bayda. In another attack on the same day, AQAP seized
Mount Kasad, southwest of al-Bayda City, after al-Houthi
forces had taken it under their control the day before. The
following days, AQAP militants advanced further to the northwest
of al-Bayda City and killed three al-Houthi forces on December
15. On December 16, AQAP militants detonated an
IED in Yarim, Ibb, killing six and injuring four al-Houthis. pmu
YEMEN (AQAP, ANSAR AL-SHARIA)
Intensity: 5 | Change: | Start: 1992
Conflict parties: Ansar al-Sharia vs. government,
Southern Mobility Movement
Conflict items: system/ideology
Conflict parties: AQAP, Ansar al-Sharia vs. al-Houthi,
forces loyal to former president Saleh
Conflict items: system/ideology, subnational predominance
The violent crisis over ideology and subnational predominance
between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and
its insurgent arm Ansar al-Sharia, on the one hand, and the al-
Houthi militants and Yemeni military forces loyal to former
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, on the other hand continued.
As in previous years, AQAP fought alongside various Sunni
tribal militias against the presence of al-Houthi-Saleh forces
in the Taiz, Ibb, and al-Bayda governorates in the southwest
of Yemen. Furthermore, AQAP tried to improve their relationship
with local Sunni militias, many of which have tribal affiliation.
For example, Ansar al-Sharia published videos showing
The conflict between Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP) and Ansar al Sharia, on the one hand, and the government
of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, supported by
the US, on the other, escalated toawar.
Throughout the year, weekly US and Saudi-led coalition
airstrikes hit militants in Hadramawt, Ma'rib, Al Bayda, Shabwah,
Aden and Lahij governorates. AQAP expanded its attacks
on government troops, the Popular Resistance, the Southern
Movement and the UAE-backed Security Belt forces in the
governorates of Al Jawf, and Sana'a. Over the year, AQAP
publicly executed twelve people for adultery, sorcery, spying,
and the distribution of alcohol. The US Treasury imposed
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