Saudi Forces Capture Head of Yemen ISIS Affiliate

The Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen has announced the capture of the head of the country’s Islamic State affiliate. Abu Osama al-Muhajer, along with other top ISIS terrorists, was reportedly apprehended June 3 during a raid on a house conducted by Saudi and Yemeni special forces. “‏The operation is considered a significant blow to the terrorist group Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIS],” the coalition statement read in part. Sunni Middle Eastern states in 2015 intervened militarily in Yemen after the Shi’ite Houthis overran the capital city of Sanaa and ousted the government. Ever since, coalition fighters on the ground have also engaged in battles against terrorist elements, foremost a group calling itself Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Islamic State murderously emerged onto the scene in 2014 when it seized by force vast swaths of Iraq and Syria. While the US and its allies have essentially rolled back those gains in both countries, analysts believe that ISIS is regrouping in other places such as Libya, Afghanistan and the Sinai Peninsula, among others in the Middle East, as well as on the African continent.