First Tunis. Now Yemen. One, a museum, the other in houses of worship. Is nothing beyond the pale for these people, nothing sacred that they could destroy 142 lives on whim. And the ripple effect of 400 wounded is acutely depressing. What is frightening now is that the competition between rival groups is the fuel for these assaults. It is a new dimension and one that can create an uncontrollable spiral of violence.
Is it because Al-Qaeda gave an assurance that it would not target mosques that the Islamic State has opted to make that move as a signature of who they are and underscore the difference? Each would like to feel their word holds sway even thought they have a common enemy, so to speak.
Till now, Yemen had been exempted from an IS attack to the extent that this is the first series of bombing that have targeted hallowed grounds. Although Al-Qaeda has distanced itself immediately from the carnage, the leadership must be concerned by the threat of the Houthi controlled areas and the retaliatory actions that can only mean more deaths of the innocent.
If the element of one-upmanship is going to be the color of the future in the conflict for first position, then what happened in Yemen on Friday is a stark shadow of things to come and the IS has not hesitated to call this massive attack as only the tip of the iceberg. Even if Al-Qaeda has limited its offensive, it may now feel it is being eclipsed in the bloodstained stakes and up them.
It would also be extremely shortsighted for the world to see the violence erupting in Yemen as an isolated situation because the fallout will adversely affect the region and contribute in great measure to the tensions we perceive in Iraq and Syria. The world is involved and it is dangerous to think otherwise. In a time where there are no technological boundaries no one can stand outside and look through the window.
That window has exploded and all you can perceive are shards of glass.
At present, the Houthi presence is still tangible in the north and it holds swathes of territory in the region. The IS, Al-Qaeda and, ironically, the US-backed Hadi government have a common adversary but in the past year and in the buildup since 2014 the Houthis are not going to be easy to subdue.
A nation that lives with the stench of death and blood and cordite can now be further stunned by the cruelty of its standoff: There is no solution in sight and none on any negotiating table.
