I agree, I find the situation in Yemen to be frightening and frankly have for many years.
The other night I heard several talking heads on BBC radio saying that the area in question in HUGE, and has NO infrastructure, none. They didn't mean it had poor infrastructure or little infrastructure -- they repetitively said there was NO infrastructure whatsoever, not even a road.
I mean... I'm sure that the al Quaedans must have cell phones and perhaps there are satellite dishes for some online broadband --- but essentially this huge area is stark wild --- thus the inhabitants live in very primative, very old fashioned conditions.
Have you ever seen pictures of the capitol, Saana?
The Smithsonian did a spread sometime last decade -- it is really gorgeous, the traditional building style is beautiful.
Infrastructure can be defined at BEST as paths, some dating back hundreds of years, zig-zagging up mountain sides or often vertical faces, barely wide enough for a mule and occasional “pass by” wider curves.
Luckily traffic is extremely sparse and usually skirt wearing mountain tribesmen without any beasts. To avoid being spotted as a outsider I wore a khaki turban and long skirt over my khaki trousers.