Yemen is grabbing sensational headlines again, this time over a controversial Dec. 12 drone attack that killed 14 civilians. Detractors say the target was a wedding convoy, not a terrorist caravan as Washington says.
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Drones are sideshow to the real issues at stake, however. The real headlines are that Yemen's complex and messy war is threatening to sink Yemen as a country, which also jeopardizes regional and international stability. It moreover puts the oil and natural gas sector at risk.
There are three main threat groups in Yemen: al Hirak, the Houthi, and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Al-Hirak, based in Yemen's south, aims for an autonomous, liberal, socialist state, which it might get after U.N.-sponsored talks ended seemingly successfully on Dec. 24.
The Houthis, in Yemen's northwest, aim for a Shiite state free of Sunni control. They are suspected of having militant ties to Iran.
AQIP fights to carve out its own territory in Yemen and launch regional and international operations from there.
Yemen also has independent-minded tribes that occasionally attack the government over policies they don't like and they align with the above-mentioned groups when it suits their needs.
All these organizations have been highly active in 2013. Suspected Islamist assassins have methodically killed 93 security officials and dozens of civilians this year. The killings seem to be part of a broader, anti-government plan, suggests Yemeni political analyst Abdulghani al-Iryani.
December has been a particularly violent month in Yemen and reflects the country's overall troubles.
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