Media coverage of AQAP and in Yemen has long focused on the threat posed by al-Qaeda to the West, while ignoring the plight of the local population in areas under Al-Qaeda control.

After the union between the south and the north, the complex history of Yemen led to the development and strengthening of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, turned the population of the south into the main victims of oppression and terrorism, whether from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or its predecessors, or from the Sana'a regime .

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - arguably the most powerful branch of al-Qaeda - uses a large part of the southern territory captured in the wake of the youth revolution in 2011 as its base.

A few years later, it secured its position further during the instability in the south caused by the latest conflict in Sana'a between the Houthis and Hadi government.

However, the development of AQAP goes back much further than the current conflict, with its roots developed decades ago, and with the sponsorship of Afash .

The emergence of al-Qaeda in the south begins in 1990, in which the southern People's Democratic Republic of Yemen united with the northern Yemen Arab Republic to form a unified Yemen.

While the unification was supposed to be a symbol of a more peaceful future for Yemen after decades of tension and conflict between the two countries.

In fact, the relationship between the northern and southern parts of the country had remained tense, culminating in the 1994 summer war.

During the period 90-94 , the Sana'a regime was deliberately received "returning Afghan Arabs" - as it is widely known - to the south and they became a useful tool for Afash against southerners from the leaders of the Yemeni Socialist Party, with some sections of this group later developing into al-Qaeda. in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Afash regime in Sana'a was supportive of the jihad in Afghanistan against the Soviets, especially as more Arab fighters traveled to Afghanistan in the mid-80s. As the North Yemen Arab Republic sent many of its "best and brightest" to the front lines, the journey became a rite of passage for many.

After the "Mujahideen" returned to a unified Yemen in the early 90s, they were hailed as heroes by President Afash's government in the north - some even given official military positions.

The northern government's enthusiasm for the war in Afghanistan can be explained, in part, by the role of the Soviets in supporting the south before unification, where the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen had significant support from the Soviet Union.

After the unity, this deep ideological division  has played a role in Sana'a's positions and its arrangement for the "return of the Arab Afghans" and their empowerment in the south.

When the civil war broke out in the summer of 1994, the northern jihadists invaded the south, armed with a religious fatwa justifying the killing of the leaders of the Socialist Party in the south, describing them as infidels. 

The fatwa was came from the North Yemeni Minister of Justice Abdul-Wahhab Al-Dailami and the cleric Abdul-Majid Al-Zindani, who are now on the global terrorism list.

Afash and Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar relied on these forces as proxies, and rewarded some of these men afterward.

After the defeat of the southern military forces by the northern groups, the "Afghan Arabs" never left. Instead, they became the arm of the northern government in the south, which is used to defend and protect the Yemeni Federation until today.

The government's attitudes toward the country's extremists have been called into question through a series of government inaugurations, the most famous of which are "returning Afghan Arabs" such as T. F.,  Jamal al-Nahdi, as well as former Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who is considered one of the founding members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he served in the Shura Council and the General People's Congress Party led by Saleh.

Al-Nahdi was also a member of the permanent committee of the General People's Congress - despite his role in 1992 bombing of several hotels under the supervision of Osama bin Laden.

Moreover, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who also played a key role in the Afash government, is widely seen in the south as a man with deep connections to extremist elements in the south, who, by empowering men like these and through a variety of restrictive policies, took control The government based in the north over the entire south, and implemented the unit by force.

During this period, the southerners saw unity as an occupation, meanwhile, the "Afghan Arabs", who were thus empowered, remained and consolidated their control over the southern regions during this time.

On the political front, the Islah party, the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen which is established by Al-Ahmar family, has facilitated major changes in the legal landscape in the south.

Ultimately, southerners viewed Islah as patrons and facilitators of the al-Qaeda presence that would later develop, and their upper hand in the south increased southerners' feeling that extremists were in control of the region.

Islah politicians oversaw the implementation of policies that affected southern Yemen and fostered religious hyperbole, extremism, and terrorism. The most impactful changes were related to education and women's rights.

While in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, education was compulsory for all boys and girls, the  new laws in the south meant that parents were no longer required to send their children to school at all.

Marriage laws were also changed, before unification, the legal marriage age in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was 18 years old. This law was removed, and fathers increasingly married off their daughters up to the age of 12 years old .

In addition to changing laws in the south, Sana'a has marginalized southerners and often neglected state institutions such as schools, roads, and hospitals in the south.

These two policies - removing progressive legal protections and weakening the state's infrastructure - worked together to create a void in services and support.

Among other groups, the active original Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda  during the early of the first decade of the twenty-first century and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - which was formed from Yemeni branches and some other Arab states in 2009 - would come to fill this gap, which in turn increased the Public opinion of the group and allowed to increase employment opportunities even with the suffering of the region as a whole.

The terrorist group that Sana'a government helped establishing also became a reason for Sana'a government to target the south, and the more al-Qaeda increased its activity in the southern governorates, from kidnapping foreigners to bombing hotels and tourist destinations, the more local residents would suffer when Sana'a government responded brutally in the name of “fighting terrorism.”

However, the atrocities committed by al-Qaeda elements to residents of the areas in which they operated - when not affecting foreigners - were often not reported.

However, terrorist organizations operating in southern Yemen have committed horrific crimes against southerners over the past decade. The rate of these crimes increased dramatically after the establishment of the Southern Movement in 2007, which demanded the return of southern Yemen to the pre-1990 agreement with North Yemen.

Al-Qaeda has openly beaten southerners who raised the flag of the former South Yemen and harassed, tortured, and threatened the leaders of the Southern Movement - with Yemen's national security was doing the same.

In this context, the southerners see in al -Qaeda forces a new repetition of the use of Sana'a government for jihadists to implement and defend Yemeni unity just as they used the "Arab Afghans" during the 1994 war. Especially since the leadership of al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was directly taken from the returning Afghan Arabs - including what is in That is the current Emir of al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Qasim Al -Rimi, who was trained in Al -Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the 90s.

However, some of the fiercest violence came with the collapse of Yemen unity, in the midst of fighting between the Yemeni government of Sana'a and the Houthis .

The recent civil war provided a larger vacuum for al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to flourish in the south, which allowed al -Qaeda to expand from the remote areas in the south, which was controlled by them,  to the major cities, such as the capital of Hadhramout Governorate, Mukalla .

The rule of al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula there and elsewhere led to obscene levels of violence throughout the peninsula. During the occupation of  Mukalla, Al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targeted journalists and activists, launched raids of homes, kidnapped and killed all those who considered a threat to their existence. People accused of spying for the Arab coalition or the United States publicly were hanging  and left suspended for several days to spread fear. Al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was beheading the youth who volunteered to the security forces, throwing stones at adulterers in public places, and preventing dance and music.

The southern governorates of  Shabwa and  Abyan also suffered from the same type of brutality: many of them were kidnapped, accused of espionage, and were executed in public - while the residents who refused to provide support for al -Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were also kidnapped, tortured and killed.

After decades of torture and abuse by jihadist elements in the south, southerners had strong motives to respond to this threat.

And when the Arab Alliance—particularly the United Arab Emirates, backed by the United States—began to train local southern forces to fight AQAP, thousands of southerners welcomed the support and saw it as an opportunity to finally rid their governorate of decades of growing oppression and terror.

These soldiers were motivated to fight AQAP because they were the main victims - both of AQAP's terrorism and the Sana'a government's war against them.

Subsequent battles between southern forces and AQAP came with a heavy price. Where the elements of the southern security forces from the Security Belt, the Hadrami Elite and the Shabwani Elite Forces were martyred during the liberation of the south from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targets the security belt checkpoints in Abyan, as well as assassinations and planting explosive devices, killing many soldiers and wounding many. 

However, tremendous progress was made against AQAP, with the majority of Hadhramout, Shabwa, and Abyan were liberated and the population began to rebuild their lives. However, it is important to implement security and continue to support and train these forces fighting AQAP in order to ensure that this threat to the south is permanently removed.

The southern forces fighting AQAP have been very effective and have proven to be an effective force against terrorism.

The international community should place special emphasis on working with the southern armed forces to help further improve their combat capabilities. Efforts must also be made to provide resources to help the local population - removing the void of services and resources that provide an opportunity for terrorist organizations such as AQAP to exploit.

As evidenced by the difficult history of the southern region, southerners are the population suffering most from the presence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and while the civil war in Yemen is complex, counterterrorism efforts must be clear and internationally supported.

Now that the southerners have begun to resist, and liberating their lands from terrorism and the Brotherhood's militias, the international community must not miss this opportunity to support the southerners in their efforts to remove the presence of these terrorists from their midst.

Afash began using al-Qaeda to strike Western interests in the way that Saleh perfected, which is to play with all against all.

In October 2000 - Al-Qaeda bombed the US destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 sailors and blowing up a hole in the hull of a navy ship.

And in November 2001 - Saleh announced his support for the "war on terror".

January 2009 - The Yemen and Saudi wings of al-Qaeda merge into a new group called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula led by Nasser al-Wahaishi.

With the events of the Arab Spring and Puritans taking control of cities and towns in the south, the United States dramatically escalated its attacks, most notably with drone strikes.

And in January 2010 - The foreign ministers of the West and the Gulf states met in London with the aim of strengthening Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.

The Pentagon became primarily responsible for counterterrorism activities in Yemen.

The tasks of carrying out operations against al-Qaeda in Yemen have been assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command - or JSOC – which is an elite force often credited with attacks in Yemen targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and, more recently, Ansar al-Sharia.

American activity has at various times consisted of cruise missile strikes, naval bombardments, air strikes and, more recently, drone strikes launched from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti and elsewhere. Attacks are sometimes carried out in conjunction with or in support of the Yemeni military.

Only recently has the CIA taken a more aggressive role, reportedly operating a fleet of drones from a secret base "somewhere in the Gulf." Actions against alleged militants are sometimes joint operations involving both the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, for example with the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki in September 2011.

Afash used the blood of civilians in the south under the pretext of the war on terrorism in order to complete the arms deals, "Al-Majalah Massacre"

Al-Majalah attack occurred on December 17, 2009, when the United States launched cruise missiles into the area.

  Immediately after the massacre, Yemen and America denied their involvement in the attack.

Several months after the attack on al-Majalah, Amnesty International released images showing a US cluster bomb and a propellant from a Tomahawk cruise missile. A subsequent investigation by the Yemeni parliament concluded that 14 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed - along with 41 civilians, including 23 children.

  The main target in the attacks was Qassem al-Rimi, al-Qaeda leader who was suspected of carrying out several attacks that killed many civilians and threatened with further attacks on the United States.  For example, the car bombing in Marib in 2007, which killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis - who survived the attack.