Both brothers who carried out the attack against satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo travelled to Yemen via Oman in 2011 and had weapons training in the deserts of Marib, an al-Qaida stronghold, two senior Yemeni sources said on Sunday.
This is the first confirmation by Yemeni officials that both Cherif and Said Kouachi, who carried out one of the bloodiest Islamist attacks on the West in decades, had visited Yemen where al-Qaida's deadliest franchise, AQAP, is based. U.S., European and Yemeni sources had previously confirmed a visit by Said Kouachi.
The Paris attack puts a fresh spotlight on the AQAP branch, which has recently focused on fighting enemies at home such as government forces and Shiite rebels but still aims to carry out attacks abroad.