According to Yemeni intelligence, both Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, the two brothers who carried out a devastating attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, were trained in camps run by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This has once more drawn attention to the militant organization’s territorial base: Yemen.

Yemen has been in a state of turmoil since the unification between north and south in 1990, and much of the latest unrest stems from sectarianism and endemic tribalism. The sectarian divisions have remained a dangerous fault line in the country, which AQAP is keen to exploit.