This reflects the city's historical role as a safe harbor and bustling port, providing shelter and nurturing trade in the region.

The Qu'aiti Sultanate was part of the Eastern Aden Protectorate until that merger, and a British Resident Advisor was stationed at Mukalla.

Captain Haines, a British officer who surveyed Yemen in the 1830s, described Mukalla as a town of 4,500 inhabitants with a significant trade in slaves.

I took turns with the captain to sleep in his cabin, but there was nothing but the deck for the others.”[8] In 1967, Mukalla lost its status of capital city of the Qu'aiti Sultanate as it became a part of the communist People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and following the Yemeni unification in 1990, it became part of what is modern-day Yemen.During the Yemeni Civil War, on 2 April 2015, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) stormed the central prison, freeing hundreds of prisoners including two senior AQAP commanders.

They attacked the central bank and seized 17 billion Yemeni riyals and 1 million U.S. dollars before taking control of the presidential palace in the city.

In April 2015 Yemeni Al-Qaida leader Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi was killed in a US drone strike in the city, the SITE Intelligence Group said, citing media reports.

[11] In April 2016, it was reported that AQAP bounds at last 1,000 of its fighters inside the Mukalla only, with their tax collection in the city ranging from 2 to higher than 5 million U.S. dollars per day.

[citation needed] AQAP is also redistributing property from northern landowners to local tribal leaders in an effort to shore up support, according to reports.

led an operation to recapture AQAP-held al Hawta in Lahij governorate, amid reports the country is seeking U.S. assistance for an expanded counter-terrorism campaign in Yemen.

[19][20] After the liberation of Mukalla, Major-General Faraj Al-Bahsani, the then-governor of the Hadhramaut governorate, said that they were now working on rebuilding health and education services, new homes and a local police force.