Islamic Jihad in Yemen
The Islamic Jihad in Yemen was an Islamist militant group based in Yemen which operated from 1990 to 1994. The group was established by former Afghan mujahideen who travelled to fight the South Yemen government, with the support and financing of Osama bin Laden. Led by Tariq al-Fadhli, the group carried out the 1992 Aden hotel bombings on the orders of bin Laden, constituting the first al-Qaeda attack against the United States. Later on, the group participated in the Yemeni civil war of 1994, fighting against the southern secessionist Democratic Republic of Yemen on the side of the northern government. Shortly after the war, IJY's main leaders were offered government positions and disbanded the group in the same year.
History
Formation
After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan in 1989, most foreign fighters participating in the Soviet–Afghan War, including Yemeni Arabs, left to resettle in their home countries. Some Yemeni veterans of the war sought to continue their jihad against their home governments. This sentiment was shared by Osama bin Laden, who among other priorities set his sights on regime change against the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, the secular, socialist state occupying the southern portion of the country. Between 1988 and 1990, bin Laden provided resources, arms and recruits from Afghanistan to South Yemen to fight the socialist government. These fighters, trained by bin Laden and consisting of Yemenis, Afghans and other foreigners, would coalesce into Islamic Jihad in Yemen some time in pre-unification 1990 under the leadership of Tariq al-Fadli, an influential southern tribesman and fighter in Afghanistan with ties to bin Laden.Aden hotel bombings
On 29 December 1992, a series of simultaneous bombings occurred at two different hotels in Aden in an attempt to target United States Marines set to be deployed in Somalia as a part of Operation Restore Hope. Senior IJY leader Jamal al-Nahdi along with an assistant, who were both trained in Afghanistan, planted a bomb at the Gold Mohur hotel and later attempted the same at the Mövenpick hotel, though the truck bomb for the latter ended up exploding prematurely, tearing off al-Nadhi's left hand and detonating the other bomb, which was placed at wrong hotel. The attack, which ended up killing an Austrian tourist and a hotel employee rather than any US soldiers, was planned by al-Fadli and al-Nadhi and directed by bin Laden. It is often considered al-Qaeda's first attack against the United States.Participation in the Yemeni civil war
Despite the dissolving of the PDRY in May 1990 with the unification of North and South Yemen, many members of the Yemeni Socialist Party maintained leadership positions in the newly formed Republic of Yemen, and the unity government failed on delivering the promise of an Islamic state. Beginning in early 1993, assassinations against Marxist officials in southern Yemen increased exponentially, with more than 150 Politburo officials and supporters being killed by the time of the 1993 Yemeni parliamentary election in April. This upsurge was blamed on IJY with the alleged support of northern-linked security forces. A former al-Qaeda member testifies that at least four arms crates were shipped to the group from Sudan in 1993 in order to "give our brothers in South Yemen some weapons to help them to fight the communists."By May 1994, tensions between the YSP and the northern government had spiraled into a civil war. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh saw the jihadists as an ally against the YSP, which threatened his power. Tariq al-Fadhli and IJY fought alongside North Yemeni forces, with General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar utilizing the jihadists as a proxy force and granting al-Fadhli the rank of colonel. On 4 July 1994, members of IJY alongside northern forces took control of Aden, forcing YSP leadership to flee and ending the conflict.