Via Business Insider:

Militants affiliating themselves with the terrorist group ISIS are taking advantage of a power vacuum in Yemen to establish an increasingly strong foothold there as the government focuses on fighting other rebels, experts say.

ISIS-linked terrorists have launched deadly attacks on mosques, carried out car bombings, and exploited sectarian tensions to lure new recruits, using extreme brutality and violence to bring in new blood and distinguish themselves from the powerful al Qaeda branch in Yemen, The New York Times reported earlier this week.

“A video released recently by the branch underscored its determination to showcase its brutality,” The Times reported. “In one section, the video shows masked gunmen leading prisoners to a small boat that was set out to sea and then blown up. Another vignette showed four captives made to wear what appeared to be mortar shells, draped around their necks, then pose for the camera before the shells were detonated.”

ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, and Daesh) has also been able to kill some Yemeni officials without meeting much resistance from authorities who are more concerned with fighting rebels who have an established presence in the country.