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Tuesday, April 22, 2014 |
Excerpts: Yemen, U.S. joint attack on Al-Qaeda April 22, 2014 |
Excerpts: Yemen, U.S. joint attack on Al-Qaeda April 22, 2014 war on Al Qaeda(in Yemen)=94,Agence France Presse QUOTE: =93An =93unprecedented=94 US and Yemeni aerial campaign in Yemen ki= least 68 Al-Qaeda militants=94 FULL TEXT:ADEN =97 An =93unprecedented=94 US and Yemeni aerial campaign in = killed at least 68 Al Qaeda militants in a bid to head off attacks by the = network=92s local affiliate, officials said Monday[21 April]. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been linked to a number of = failed terror plots against the United States, and its leader has appeared = in a rare video in which he vowed to attack Western =93crusaders... everywh= in the world=94. A top Yemeni official told AFP the =93unprecedented=94 Saturday-Sunday air = came after =93information that Al Qaeda was plotting attacks on vital = installations, military and security, as well as foreign interests in Yemen= The interior ministry said intensive air strikes on Al Qaeda bases in the = rugged mountains of Abyan province on Sunday[20 April] killed 55 militants, = including three local chiefs. Tribal sources had put the death toll from the raids near the town of Al = Mahfad at more than 30. The interior ministry said the raids lasted several hours, adding that = =93terrorists of Arab and foreign nationalities are among the dead and are = the process of being identified=94. The top official said Yemeni MiG-29 jet fighters took part in the raids, = which tribal sources said involved unmanned drones. The United States is the only country operating drones over Yemen, but US = officials rarely acknowledge the covert drone programme. A drone strike on Sunday[20 April] night killed three militants, one of who= may have been a senior commander, when a missile blasted their off-road = vehicle in the southern Shabwa province, an official said. Witnesses confirmed the vehicle was completely destroyed and said they saw = the charred remains of three individuals. Shortly after the attack, commandos in an unmarked helicopter arrived to = retrieve the bodies, they said. =93The operation seems to indicate that one of the dead could be an importa= leader of Al Qaeda,=94 one witness told AFP. And on Saturday[19 April], a drone strike in the central province of Baida = killed 10 Al Qaeda suspects and three civilians, official Saba news agency = reported. It did not say who carried out the attack. Meanwhile, two gunmen on a motorbike shot dead an intelligence officer = Monday[21 April] and wounded another in Sanaa, in an attack that =93bore th= hallmarks of Al Qaeda=94, an official said. President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi, meanwhile, awarded Yemen=92s counterterror= unit the medal of =93bravery=94 for its =93successful raid last night=94, t= government said in a statement. =93The operation delivers a strong message to the criminal and terror = operatives that the armed forces and security personnel are ready to foil = and thwart terrorist acts at any time and place,=94 said Hadi. =91War against crusaders=92 The weekend attacks came after AQAP chief Nasser Al Wuhayshi pledged to = fight Western =93crusaders=94 everywhere, apparently referring to the Unite= States and other countries which have intervened in Muslim countries. =93We will continue to raise the banner of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula a= our war against the crusaders will continue everywhere in the world,=94 he = said in a video posted online last month. The video, which showed Wuhayshi addressing militants, could have been shot = in the Al Kur mountain range, which stretches between Abyan, Shabwa and = Baida provinces, and has become a stronghold for AQAP, tribal sources said. Hadi has defended the use of drones, despite criticism from rights groups = concerned about civilian casualties. The United States has defended its use of drones against Al Qaeda, saying = they allow it to target jihadists without sending soldiers into lawless = areas where local authorities have little or no control. Rights groups have criticised the drone programme in Yemen and other = countries, and repeatedly urged the US administration to investigate strike= in which civilians have been killed =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= ________________________________________ Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on A= Website: www.imra.org.il For free regular subscription: For free daily digest subscription: IMRA is now also on Twitter |
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