A number of Islamist militants in Yemen have renounced their loyalty to Al-Qaeda in favor of the Islamic State (Daesh) according to a Twitter message analyzed by the American monitoring group SITE, Reuters reports.
“We announce the formation of armed brigades specialized in pounding the apostates in Sanna and Dhamar,” the message said, referring to two central provinces.
“We announce breaking the pledge of allegiance to the sheikh, the holy warrior and scholar Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri… We pledge to the caliph of the believers Ibrahim bin Awad al-Baghdadi to listen and obey,” the message continued.
The announcement comes shortly after militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Libya pledged their allegiance to Daesh. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is the most powerful cell of the global terrorist network headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, though the organization recently has faced increasing competition from Daesh for loyalty among Islamist militants worldwide.
