 On 29 December 2015, Spear Operations Group began its operations in Yemen with a failed assassination attempt on Anssaf Ali Mayo, the local leader of Islamist political party Al-Islah.Though the first operation failed, the team stayed on in Yemen for several more months and claimed credit for a number of other high-profile assassinations.Their targets included other members of al-Islah, nonviolent clerics, and some "out and out terrorists."