SUMMARY
During the autumn of 2014, several smaller groups in Yemen pledged allegiance to IS. Wilayats (provinces) were announced in multiple locations in Yemen, including in Sana’a, Lahij and Aden. By having pledged allegiance to IS, these groups were all seen as part of IS.
The first attack claimed by IS-members in Yemen took place on 20 March. IS carried out several suicide bombings in Sanaa against mosques attended by government troops. In total, more than 140 people were killed. IS carried out several car and suicide bombings against government troops in mainly Sanaa city during the rest of 2015.
Since 2016, Islamic State (IS) has mainly fought the Forces of Hadi in a non-state conflict in southern Yemen. After 2016, the group IS was very weak and only managed to sustain a low level insurgency in Yemen. Fighting against its rivals in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in 2018 and 2019 further distracted and weakened the group.
After a period of relative calm, the conflict against the government flared up again in 2020, as the Ansarallah government conducted an offensive which uprooted IS from their al-Qayfa stronghold in al-Bayda. IS had largely lost any permanent presence in Yemen at this point. In 2015, the violence in Yemen escalated drastically. A conflict over government, which passed the UCDP threshold for war, was first fought between the Government of Yemen and Ansarallah in January, and then between Government of Yemen and Forces of Hadi from February-December. Clashes between the Government of Yemen and AQAP also continued in 2015. For more information about the conflict over government, see Yemen: Government.
A territorial conflict between the Government of Yemen and Islamic State (IS) also became active in 2015. During the autumn of 2014, several groups pledged allegiance to IS. Wilayats (provinces) were announced in multiple locations in Yemen, including in Sana’a, Lahij and Aden. By having pledged allegiance to IS, these groups were all seen as part of IS. IS carried out a number of suicide bombings against Ansarallah, which according to UCDP definitions, was seen as the government following its capture of the capital in January 2015. The conflict has since occasionally flared up, being active in 2017 and 2020. After a period of relative calm, the Ansarallah government conducted an offensive which uprooted IS from their al-Qayfa stronghold in al-Bayda during August 2020. IS in Yemen was at this point considered very weak.
