2006 Sanaa prison escape

On 3 February 2006, a group of 23 convicts escaped from a prison administered by the Political Security Organization (PSO) in Sanaa, Yemen. The prisoners had spent two months digging a 44-meter long tunnel from their cell, which they had all shared, using makeshift tools such as spoons and cooking pots. They escaped through the tunnel into the women's bathroom of a nearby mosque, where they recited prayers and left through the front doors. Among the escapees included several militants affiliated with al-Qaeda and its local organization in Yemen, most notably Jamal al-Badawi, a mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, Fawaz al-Rabeiee, the leader of a militant cell responsible for the MV Limburg bombing, and Jaber Elbanah, a US citizen associated with the Lackawanna Six.

The escape was a major embarrassment for the Yemeni government and strained its counterterrorism-focused relations with the United States. Several commentators and officials suspected that members of the PSO may have facilitated the escape. An investigation launched by the Yemeni Interior Ministry concluded that the prison guards did not take sufficient precautions to prevent the escape, with 12 officers being tried and found guilty of gross negligence. Yemeni authorities and security forces launched an intense manhunt for the 23 fugitives, with all but six of them remaining free by late 2007. Retrospectively, the escape has been seen by commentators and analysts as the catalyst for the revival of al-Qaeda's presence in Yemen. Two of the escapees, Nasir al-Wuhayshi and Qasim al-Raymi, would go on to serve as leaders of al-Qaeda in Yemen and its successor organization, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.