جماعة أنصار الشريعة (Jamāʿat Anṣār aš-Šharīʿa) Partisans of Shari'a
Jihadist flag used by organization
Leaders	Nasir al-Wuhayshi † (2011–15)[1] Qasim al-Raymi † (2015–20)[2] Khalid Batarfi (2020–present)[3]
Dates of operation	2011–present
Headquarters	Mukalla, Hadhramaut (2015–2016)
Active regions	Yemen; Sana'a and the Abyan region: Zinjibar, Ja'ar, Shuqrah and surrounding areas.
Ideology	Qutbism[4] Salafi jihadism Religious nationalism[5]
Size	1,000–3000+[6][7]
Part of	al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Allies	Al-Shabaab[8] al-Qaeda
Opponents	State opponents  Yemen  United States[9]  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates Non-state opponents Houthis Southern Movement Islamic State – Yemen Province
Battles and wars	Yemeni insurgency Battle of Zinjibar Siege of Dammaj Battle of Dofas 2012 Abyan offensive 2012 Sana'a bombing 2013 Sana'a attack Yemeni Civil War Southern Yemen offensive (2015) Battle of Mukalla (2015) Abyan clashes (2016–present)
Designated as a terrorist group by	United Arab Emirates[10]

Jama'at Ansar al-Shari'a (Arabic: جماعة أنصار الشريعة; Jamāʿat Anṣār aš-Šharīʿa), also known as Ansar al-Shari'a, is a Yemen-based umbrella organization which includes units from several militant Islamic groups of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).^[11] In 2011, AQAP created Ansar Al-Sharia as a Yemen-based affiliate focused on waging an insurgency rather than international attacks on the West.^[12] In the view of the International Crisis Group, AQAP is "an internally diverse organisation with varying layers of support among the local population" and many AAS members and allies are not committed to AQAP's international agenda.^[12]

After the Battle of Zinjibar (May–September 2011), the faction had taken control of some cities in southern Yemen in which it has instated emirates. Ansar ash-Shari'a have also claimed responsibility for the 2012 Sana'a bombing and the 2013 Sana'a attack.^[13] As of early 2017, AQAP and AAS were currently in a struggle for territorial control with the Houthi/Saleh forces in the governorates of al-Bayda, Shebwa, Marib, Jawf and Taiz.^[12]

On 4 October 2012, the United States Department of State amended its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations to designate Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen as an alias for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, rather than listing it as a separate organisation. On the same day, the group was also listed by the United Nations 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.^[14] New Zealand^[15] also listed it as a terror group.^[16]

In February 2015, it was reported that some members had split from the group and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.^[17]

In January 2020, the group's leader Qasim al-Raymi, who also served as the leader of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, was killed in a U.S. airstrike.^[18]

References