The attacks in Paris last week were carried out with automatic weapons, including a variant of the AK47. These kinds of weapons are very difficult to obtain legally anywhere in the European Union, which has led many to wonder where the accused attackers got their weapons.
The Houthi insurgency may be low on the radar of American worries in Yemen, the but the Shiite group is now in the streets of the capital and fighting government forces. And that battle could hand an opportunity to the group Western nations are focused on: al-Qaeda.
An investigation by the New York Times has shown how the tiny Gulf state of Qatar is supporting a wide range of Islamist groups across the Middle East. This includes Hamas, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and even al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
On December 12, 2013, a drone strike killed a group of twelve men in Yemen. But beyond the number of the dead — and the compensation paid to the victims’ families — almost everything else about the attack remains murky.On December 12, 2013, a drone strike killed a group of twelve men in Yemen. But beyond the number of the dead — and the compensation paid to the victims’ families — almost everything else about the attack remains murky.