Al Qaeda-linked militants continue to contest control of south Yemen. The militants have begun to target Yemeni tribesmen cooperating with the Yemeni military in the fight against al Qaeda.

Dual suicide bombings in Abyan killed at least 11 tribesmen. A suicide bomber drove a car rigged with explosives into a checkpoint in al Arqub in Abyan. Al Arqub is between Shaqra, a town recently seized by al Qaeda-linked militants, and Lawder and Mudia in northeastern Abyan. Eight tribesmen were killed and twenty others injured. The second suicide bomber exploded his device in the middle of a group of tribesmen in Mudia, killing three people. Officials say that al Qaeda-linked militants, who have seized territory in Abyan, likely coordinated the attacks.

Al Qaeda-linked militants clashed with the 111th infantry brigade in al Arqub in Abyan. Security sources report that the militants were driving from Zinjibar toward Lawder and that four militants were killed in the fighting.

Armed men attacked a Republican Guard military camp on the outskirts of Sana’a. The 62nd brigade is stationed at the camp, about 20 km outside of the capital. Six of the men were killed, according to the ruling party’s website.

A resolution to the political crisis in the capital will not end the fragmentation of the Yemeni state, which remains at risk of a broader armed conflict. The current situation has increased al Qaeda's operating space in Yemen.