Yemen: High-Profile Militants Killed and the Yemeni Power Structure

Two high-profile Islamist militants have been killed over the past three weeks in Yemen. Violent attacks against tourists, energy infrastructure and government buildings in Yemen have grown recently, culminating in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack on a police station in July. The fact that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was capable of pursuing these attackers indicates that he has the support of Yemen's major power brokers who tend to sympathize with jihadists. Their approval of the killings marks a rebalancing in the cyclical struggle between the government and Islamist militants. However, the militants will not be driven out of Yemen anytime soon.