V. P. KIRICHENKO Candidate of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yemen, political crisis Keywords: Zaydi, Shafi'i, Al-Qaeda Every year, on May 22, the Yemeni people celebrate National Unity Day. However, in 2012, it was overshadowed by the explosion that occurred the day before in the capital Sanaa in Al-Sabin Square, just at the place where the military parade was supposed to take place. The exact number of victims was not released, but the explosion was so powerful that the remains of the victims were scattered throughout the area. The army leadership announced the death of 63 servicemen who participated in the preparation and rehearsal of the parade. THE RISE OF AL-QAEDA Observers noted that the attack occurred 10 days after the start of a large-scale anti-terrorist operation by the Yemeni armed forces against Al-Qaeda militants, which in recent years has intensified its presence in the country. Ansar al-Sharia, a branch of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), claimed responsibility for the explosion in Al-Sabin Square. According to foreign analysts, AQAP is the most active and dangerous of all the Al-Qaeda terrorist groups. For the first time, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda was mentioned after the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000. 17 sailors were killed, the $1 billion ship was disabled for two years, and its repair cost the United States $250 million.2 In 2008, militants attacked the US Embassy, killing at least 16 people, including an American. The same organization is charged with attempting to blow up a passenger liner en route Amsterdam-Detroit in 2009. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national who was captured at the time, admitted that he had been trained in terrorist camps in Yemen. In late October 2010, explosives were sent from Yemen to Jewish organizations in Chicago. The special services of Saudi Arabia managed to detect the dangerous stuffing of parcels. They also established that the packages w ... Read more