Led by Tariq al-Fadhli, the group carried out the 1992 Aden hotel bombings on the orders of bin Laden, constituting the first al-Qaeda attack against the United States.

[1] This sentiment was shared by Osama bin Laden, who among other priorities set his sights on regime change against the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, the secular, socialist state occupying the southern portion of the country.

[3][4][5] On 29 December 1992, a series of simultaneous bombings occurred at two different hotels in Aden in an attempt to target United States Marines set to be deployed in Somalia as a part of Operation Restore Hope.

[2][9] A former al-Qaeda member testifies that at least four arms crates were shipped to the group from Sudan in 1993 in order to "give our brothers in South Yemen some weapons to help them to fight the communists.

[2] After the civil war, IJY leaders Tariq al-Fadhli and Jamal al-Nahdi were both given roles within the ruling General People's Congress party in exchange for disbanding the group and renouncing jihadism.

[2][9] According to CTC Westpoint, IJY never obtained a solid ideological foundation, instead being an "awkward union of indigenous movements opposed to the Yemen Socialist Party."

[2] IJY was composed primarily of Islamists, but also hosted many moderate republicans loyal to North Yemen and independent tribesmen who seeked to exert more control over their territory in the South.