Battle of Dofas

On 4 March 2012, militants from Ansar al-Sharia, an Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, launched an attack on Yemeni military installations in the adjacent towns of Dofas and al-Kawd in Abyan Governorate, Yemen. The two towns had been major fighting grounds in the battle for the nearby city of Zinjibar since the militants seized the city the previous year.

The militants launched a three-pronged attack at dawn on three army brigades stationed the cities, first attacking from the east before opening another front on the north. Utilizing suicide bombers, car bombs, mortars, artillery and gunfire, the militants eventually managed to drive out the 39th Armoured Brigade from their cannon and artillery base in Dofas, where they seized troves of army equipment including heavy weaponry such as artillery and tanks which they turned on the soldiers. After reinforcements were sent from Aden, Yemeni forces under supervision of United States military advisors fought a five-hour battle with the militants before they withdrew.

The attack killed 185 soldiers, the most in a single engagement since the army began fighting Ansar al-Sharia. Many of the deaths were attributed to poor medical care due to overfilled hospitals; many of the soldiers were treated in administrative offices and waiting rooms. A further 135 soldiers were wounded, while the militants, of whom 32 died in the attack, claimed to have fled with large supplies of military equipment, including one tank. The stolen equipment, along with 73 soldiers captured by the attackers, were displayed during a parade in the nearby Ansar al-Sharia-controlled city of Ja'ar. The soldiers were released by Ansar al-Sharia on 29 April.

The army defeat drew outrage from the Yemeni public and condemnation from the government and other international commentators. Protests in reaction to the attack called on the Yemeni government to remove and prosecute military officials loyal to ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who were accused of negligence or outright collaboration with militants. Protesters and officials specifically accused Saleh loyalist Gen. Mahdi Maqula, the former commander for military forces in southern Yemen, of colluding with the militants due to losing his position days earlier.