AQAP underestimates Yemeni casualties in Al Koud raid

In a statement released yesterday on the Internet, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has officially claimed credit for last weekend’s assault on the Yemeni Army base in Al Koud. In what may be a first by a jihadist group, AQAP has underestimated the effects of the operation.

In the statement, which has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, AQAP claimed “[t]he killing of nearly 100 soldiers and officers, the wounding of over 150 others, and the capturing of 73 soldiers and officers.” Official reports from Yemen indicate that 185 Yemeni soldiers were killed.

AQAP also documented what it calls the “Spoils” of the operation:

A tank – anti-aircraft .23 caliber Sabtana – a Katyusha rocket launcher with 15 rockets – a 120 caliber mortar cannon – 5 DShKs – 3 PKs – 2 RPGs – 100 Kalashnikovs – a depot of a variety of ammunition – a Kraz truck – 3 military uniforms – 2 ambulances – a large amount of ammunition for the aforementioned weaponry.

And the “Losses of the enemy in terms of weapons”:

The destruction of 3 Katyusha launchers – 2 tanks – 3 Kraz trucks – 12 DC cannons, in addition to the burning of an ammunitions depot.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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5 Comments

  • wallbangr says:

    Funny that they got the number wrong. Of course, if it was a night time raid they could be forgiven on relying on media reports to get their numbers. And the turnaround time to make the media announcement might explain why the number was outdated. Still, the punch in the mouth to the Yemeni military speaks for itself. 5 DsHKs? Ouch

  • mike merlo says:

    Yemen has really shaped up into very productive kill zone. Availability of weapons & transportation appears to be a non issue so hopefully we supply all sides with food & drink to assist in the flow & continuation of hostilities.

  • KaneKaizer says:

    Wow. First time for everything.

  • Neo says:

    Some aspects of this remind me of NW Pakistan circa 2004. Poorly trained and unmotivated troops positioned to crudely block the enemy from moving into new territory. There seems to be little use for planning or initiative, as the troops aren’t going to put up much of a fight anyway. Half the troops have a notion they would rather fight for the other side. The other half of the troops are in the army because their family had an extra son who would inherit no land.
    This has suddenly become a much larger problem. Up until this week, it looked like they could keep the Yemen problem on the slow burner while more important things are tended to elsewhere. If they don’t have a play to make, it looks like they will be losing ground at a faster pace from here on out.

  • mike merlo says:

    re:Neo
    Reminds me of Pakistan since the Partition of 1947 up until the present & probably decades if not centuries into the future. When has the Pakistan military not been incompetent? Definitely one the ‘things’ that works to our favor in the AfPak Theater.

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