Yemen security forces foil plot to carry out 10 suicide bombings in Sana’a

Yemeni security forces have foiled a plot to carry out 10 suicide bombings against government buildings in the capital Sana’a, the defense ministry’s news website reported on Monday.

A wave of arrests targeting a suspected al-Qaeda cell held responsible for a May attack that killed more than 100 soldiers in the capital netted the 10 militants charged with carrying out the bombings, the 26sep.net website quoted “informed sources” as saying.

The arrests “foiled 10 terrorist suicide bombings in the capital Sana’a which the group was planning to carry out against several government facilities,” it reported, according to AFP.

Security services have also found the last testament of the May 21 bomber, who was less than 18 years old, 26sep.net added.

National security chief Ali Mohammed al-Ansi said in comments published by the ministry’s 26 September newspaper on Thursday that the security forces had made multiple arrests.

They followed the announcement on June 20 of the arrest of Majed al-Qulaisi, a suspected member of the cell that planned the May attack against troops rehearsing for a military parade.

Ansi vowed to continue the “hunt” for al-Qaeda fighters, saying security forces have carried out a “series of operations against al-Qaeda terrorists” across Yemen.

Last month, Yemeni troops recaptured a string of al-Qaeda bastions across the troubled south and east where the militants had seized control last year.

Separately, Yemen’s state news agency SABA reported that Saudi Arabia plans to reopen its embassy in Sana’a, which was closed after the kidnapping of Abdullah al-Khalidi, Saudi Arabia’ deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden. SABA cited a telephone call between King Abdullah and Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Sunday night in which the Saudi king reportedly said he would soon order the opening of the embassy in the Yemeni capital, according to Reuters.

The United States and its Gulf Arab allies have watched with mounting alarm as Islamist fighters, emboldened by political instability in Yemen, went on a rampage in the south of the country.

Hundreds of militants have been on the run since U.S.-backed Yemeni forces drove them out of towns and cities they had seized last year.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is seen by U.S. officials as the most dangerous offshoot of the global militant network.

By Al Arabiya with Agencies
Monday, 02 July 2012

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Qirbi says Yemeni forces regained control of al-Qaeda strongholds

Map by Evan Centanni. (www.polgeonow.com)

The Yemeni forces were able to regain control of al-Qaeda’s strongholds in southern Yemen and other regions, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told Al Arabiya on Thursday.

“The Yemeni police and army forces were able to kick al-Qaeda militants from the regions that they used to control. They have fled to some mountainous areas,” he Qirbi said.

“It is not over yet. Our forces will continue to chase those operatives,” he told Al Arabiya on the sidelines of an anti-piracy conference in Dubai.

Meanwhile, he told Reuters in separate statements that some al-Qaeda-linked militants may have fled to neighboring states, including Oman, after being driven out of their strongholds in cities in southern Yemen.

Many had fled to mountainous parts of southern Yemen, while others could have fled to neighboring countries using land and sea routes. “There are reports that some of the militants went to Oman, which hasn't been formally confirmed to us.”

“The security services are coordinating with neighboring countries because the militants don’t only pose danger to Yemen but also to other countries.”

Any infiltration into Oman, which sits on one side of the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for one third of the world's seaborne oil exports, would raise fears of al-Qaeda setting up a new base in a region of strategic importance.

Yemeni security sources had already suggested some al-Qaeda members may have crossed into Oman, a relatively stable Arab monarchy bordering both Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants, emboldened by waning government control over the country during last year's protests that ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, had seized several southern cities during the turmoil.

In May, the Yemeni army launched a large-scale U.S.-backed offensive against al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law). The army drove out the militants from their main strongholds this month and regained control of several cities in the country’s south.

But Qirbi said Yemen’s fight against al-Qaeda was far from over. “The task has not finished yet; the security forces still have to chase militants to their hideouts,” he said. “The terrorist elements are on the run, but it’s hard to tell when will we uproot al-Qaeda.”

Qirbi said that fighting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), believed to be the most active branch of the global network which has plotted a number of botched attempts against U.S. targets, needed a multifaceted approach.

“If you look at the experiences of other countries from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia and the United States, uprooting terrorism and extremism is complicated...it can't be dealt with only by military means,” he said.

He said his government would need to track down the sources of funding, identify Islamic clerics who propagated extremist views and create jobs for the country's young population.

“All these measures take time before they bear fruit,” he said.

U.S. officials say that President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi -- who came to power in February as part of a power-transfer deal brokered by the United States and Gulf states -- is more cooperative in the fight against al-Qaeda than his predecessor.

Analysts have suggested that Saleh deliberately gave al-Qaeda free rein in the south during protests against his 33 years in office in a cynical but failed attempt to convince Washington he should remain in power to deal with the threat.

The Yemeni foreign minister said that many of the militants fighting with Ansar al-Sharia were foreigners. Yemeni officials have repeatedly identified Somali fighters among the casualties of their offensive against militants.

By Al Arabiya with Reuters
Friday, 29 June 2012

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Officials: Pakistani security forces capture key al Qaeda leader

from CNN

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani security forces arrested a key al Qaeda leader near the nation's border with Iran, military officials said Wednesday.

They arrested French national Naamen Maziche, who was in charge of some of the terror network's international operations, according to the Pakistani military officials. They did not want to be named because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Maziche is a close aide of al Qaeda leader Younis Al Mauretani, the officials said.

Pakistani intelligence agents arrested Mauretani and three aides in September 2011. At the time of his arrest, Pakistani officials said he sought to attack targets in the United States, Europe and Australia.

Osama bin Laden had asked Mauretani to focus on hitting targets of economic importance in the U.S. such as oil pipelines, dams and oil tankers, Pakistani officials said at the time.

Mauretani told investigators Maziche was in Iran and possibly headed to Africa, the officials said.

The exact time and place of Maziche's arrest was unclear.


By Reza Sayah, CNN
June 20, 2012 -- Updated 1049 GMT (1849 HKT)

CNN video:
 

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