Al Qaeda in Yemen expanding footprint amid chaos, giving guidance to al-Shabaab
Fox News, by Catherine Herridge, April 06, 2015:Al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate is expanding its footprint amid the chaos in the country and now providing guidance to the Somalia terror group that claimed responsibility for last week’s deadly terror attack at a university, an intelligence source told Fox News.
The warning underscores the growing threat posed by Al Qaeda in Yemen at a time when the advance of Shiite rebels has effectively created a power vacuum in the country, with the unrest stalling what had been a robust U.S. counterterrorism operation there.
The intelligence source told Fox News that the affiliate is providing guidance to Somalia’s al-Shabaab on how major plots — like the attack at Garissa University College in Kenya that killed nearly 150 people — can support their regional ambitions.
The intelligence source said Al Qaeda in Yemen is providing guidance and fighters, and sharing bomb-making techniques that account for the more sophisticated vehicle-borne explosive devices now being recovered in the region.
In mid-March, for instance, FBI investigators found a Toyota Hilux with IEDs welded to the floor and back-seat of a vehicle that had been tracked by the FBI from Somalia to Kenya.
Al Qaeda’s affiliate also got a boost last week by taking advantage of the fall of Mukalla — the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt. Militants freed about 300 inmates from the city’s main prison. About one-third of the prisoners released are militants with Al Qaeda in Yemen, and one of the group’s top regional commanders, Khaled Batarfi, was among them.
A 2006 prison break had originally laid the foundation for the establishment of the group’s leadership.
Meanwhile, the influence of AQAP is not lost even on President Obama’s own party.
California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday that Al Qaeda is having a “resurgence.”
“In Yemen the news is really all bad,” Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told ABC’s “This Week.” “Just as we feared in the chaos … Al Qaeda has had a resurgence.”
“It’s absolutely a safe haven,” Michael Leiter, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, also told ABC.
He said the administration’s policy is correct, though, compared to the alternative of a massive American occupation.
“That doesn’t mean that the administration’s strategy is flawless, however,” he said. “And I think had we put greater emphasis and resources in trying to deal with the governance issues in Yemen, this might have been prevented.”
At least 500 people have been killed in the fighting as Shiite rebels known as Houthis continue to try to overthrow the Yemen government and as neighboring Saudi Arabia leads an airstrike campaign to stop the rebels.
The administration has referred to its efforts in Yemen as a “success story” and just several days ago continued to defend its strategy.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told MSNBC that U.S. policy “should not be graded against the success or the stability of the Yemeni government.”
He also said the strategy has been to try to bolster the government in Yemen, which has for years been in a chaotic state and the administration’s objective “has never been to try to build a Jeffersonian democracy.”
“The goal is to make sure Yemen cannot be a safe haven that extremists can use to attack the West and to attack the United States,” he said.
Late last month, the administration removed U.S. personnel from the Arab country, as the situation deteriorated.
Obama has said several times in recent years that Al Qaeda has been “decimated” or is “on the run.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent.
***
Many countries, but not US, are evacuating their citizens from Yemen (breitbart.com)
With Yemen collapsing further into chaos on a daily basis, many countries are evacuating their citizens from Yemen. Many of these people are foreign workers who came to Yemen to earn money. Here are some examples:
- The Canadian government is confirming that Russian planes have evacuated an undisclosed number of Canadians from Yemen.
- India’s defense has so far evacuated 1800 Indians from Yemen, by air and by sea. In addition, the Indian Navy is evacuating Indian nationals from Aden. There are also 200 other people belonging to 20 different nations.
- The Chinese government dispatched a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy frigate to help evacuate 225 nationals from 10 countries, including Pakistan, Ethiopia, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Britain, Canada and Yemen. Chinese military officials confirmed that this was the first time that a Chinese military vessel evacuated non-Chinese citizens in a humanitarian assistance mission.
- Pakistan has evacuated 183 people from Yemen, including 35 foreigners.
- Jordan has so far evacuated 157 Jordanians from Yemen in the last two days. They were evacuated by buses into Saudi Arabia, where they stayed in hotels awaiting air transfer to Jordan.
- Turkey has evacuated 230 people from Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, including 45 from other countries.
- Algeria has evacuated 160 citizens from Yemen, on a plane flown from Sanaa to Cairo provided by Algerian national carrier Air Algerie. In addition, 40 Tunisians, 15 Mauritians, eight Libyans, three Moroccans and a Palestinian were also flown out of Sanaa.
- Bangladesh estimates that there are about 1500 to 3000 Bangladeshis living in Yemen, and is requesting help from India to evacuate them.
- Two Thai students were evacuated from Yemen on Sunday, and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. The two students had been studying Modern Standard Arabic at a university in western Yemen. Another eight Thai students reached Saudi Arabia.
The level of instability and ongoing threats in Yemen remain severe. There are no plans for a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens at this time. We encourage all U.S. citizens to shelter in a secure location until they are able to depart safely. U.S. citizens wishing to depart should do so via commercial transportation options when they become available. Keep vital records and travel documents close at hand; U.S. citizens should be prepared to depart at a moment’s notice. The airports are currently closed, but may open unexpectedly; other unforeseen opportunities to depart may also suddenly arise.
Additionally, some foreign governments may arrange transportation for their nationals and may be willing to offer assistance to others. There is no guarantee that foreign governments will assist U.S. citizens in leaving Yemen. U.S. citizens who choose to seek foreign government assistance in leaving Yemen should only do so if they can safely make their way to the point of embarkation and have received confirmation that there is space available. Even if assured there is space aboard transportation, U.S. citizens should be aware that there is no guarantee that they will be permitted to board the transport, or may have to wait an indefinite period until they can do so. There is also no guarantee of where travelers will go.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment