Yemen launches major offensive against al-Qaeda
06 January, 2010
SANAA: Yemen launched a major offensive against al-Qaeda and the US embassy here reopened on Tuesday after security forces staged a raid just outside the city that dealt with an imminent security threat. Yemen has sent thousands of troops to take part in a campaign against al-Qaeda in three provinces, and authorities have already detained five suspected fighters from the group, a security source said on Tuesday. “The campaign is continuing in the capital and in the provinces of Shabwa and Maarib,” the source told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. The manhunt was also going on in the southern province of Abyan. There were no further details. The US embassy in Yemen reopened after a raid that killed two al-Qaeda militants dealt with specific security concerns, which had forced the US and European missions to close, the embassy said. Violence flared in the Yemen-Saudi border area, where rebels waging a revolt against the central government said a series of Saudi air strikes on a market had flattened shops and homes, killing two people and wounding three more. Yemen was thrust into the foreground of the US-led war against militants after a wing of al-Qaeda said it was behind a Christmas Day bomb attempt on a US-bound plane. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said fighting in Yemen was a threat to regional and global stability. The US embassy said in a statement that successful counter-terrorism operations conducted by Yemen’s security forces on January 4 on the north of the capital had addressed a specific area of concern and contributed to the embassy’s decision to resume operations. It said the embassy reopened after a two-day closure, prompted by credible information pointing to the “likelihood of imminent terrorist attacks in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa”. The British and French embassies also resumed operations on Tuesday, but remained closed to the public. End.
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