The Battle of Zinjibar was a battle during the 2011 Yemeni uprising between forces loyal to Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and Islamist militant forces, possibly including elements of al-Qaeda, for control of the town of Zinjibar and its surroundings as part of the wider insurgency in the self-declared Islamic Emirate of Abyan. Many of the Islamist forces operating in Abyan province refer to themselves as Ansar al-Sharia ("Partisans of Sharia").