Terrorism in Yemen

The risk of terrorist attacks in Yemen over the past years can be classified as extremely high. Worldwide this is one of the most dangerous countries with the most and devastating attacks. Over the past 5 years a total number of 1953 terrorist incidents has been recorded, in which 4156 people have been killed and 5454 injured. Among them were 124 suicide acts.

In 241 incedents a total of 1180 people have been kidnapped or taken as hostage, though a ransom was rarely (13 times) extorted.

› Topic page: Terrorism

Back to overview: Yemen

Most frequent attack targets in Yemen

(2012 to 2016)

Target	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
Private citizens	647	1,834	3,000	442
Government	350	441	687	125
Police	195	406	465	71
Non-state militias	163	724	426	137
Utilities	147	21	27	0
Military	130	641	688	81
Political parties	109	471	156	409
Business	90	127	279	18
Journalists & Media	66	11	49	60
Religious institutions	65	305	698	32

Most affected regions

(2012 to 2016)

Region	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
Amanat Al Asimah	314	690	1,463	298
Taizz	273	740	1,511	58
Adan	268	640	807	28
Hadramawt	165	343	328	62
Marib	161	127	209	31
Abyan	100	264	182	21
Al Bayda	99	250	81	23
Lahij	84	300	248	58
Shabwah	80	116	57	42
Ibb	69	106	109	136
Ad Dali	58	183	69	180
Sanaa	53	71	42	57
Al Hudaydah	46	61	74	61
Dhamar	35	21	34	18
Amran	32	48	67	40
Saada	28	86	106	7
Al Jawf	26	88	45	5
Hajjah	20	10	4	3
Mahwit	4	4	12	30

Terrorist organisations in Yemen

Organisation	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
Al-Qaida	501	1,310	1,395	150
Islamic State	70	526	863	41
Popular Resistance Committees	19	93	42	144
Supporters of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi	14	75	0	0
Al-Islah Party	4	25	9	0
Muslim extremists	3	5	15	2
Hassan Mabkhut Group	2	0	0	0
Supporters of Ali Abdullah Saleh	1	0	1	0
Dissident Republican Guard	1	5	9	0
Hadramawt Tribes Alliance	1	0	0	0
Tehama Movement	1	0	5	0

All information sourced from the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" (START) and its Global Terrorism Database. An act of terrorism is concidered every incident which is aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal, but not for pure profit motives. In addition these incidents must not be legitimized by warfare activities, listet in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.