Afghanistan
CIA drone strikes will get pass in counterterrorism ‘playbook,’ officials say
CIA drone strikes will get pass in counterterrorism ‘playbook,’ officials say
“Gunmen” bombed an oil pipeline in the village of Rudum in Shabwa province; the pipeline moved more than 8,000 barrels of oil per day. Nine al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters were transferred from Aden to Sana’a to face trial.
“Gunmen” assassinated the deputy chief of police in a shooting from a motorcycle in Damar. Iran’s ambassador to Yemen denied the US ambassador’s accusation that Iran is supporting insurgent and terrorist groups.
A Yemeni official said that tribesmen sold a Finnish couple and an Austrian man who were kidnapped last month to al Qaeda in Baydah province. Security forces detained two AQAP fighters near Sana’a. Nine AQAP fighters are being tried for last year’s suicide attack in Sana’a that killed 86 troops.
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Counterterrorism forces raided an al Qaeda hideout in Jader, just north of Sanaa, capturing two al Qaeda operatives. Target lists and a quantity of IEDs, suicide vests, and bombmaking materials were seized. The cell, which used motorbikes, may be linked to the assassinations of 40 officers in Yemen in 2012 by attackers on motorbikes.
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Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is accused of killing a tribal leader in Abyan who brokered the release of hostages. Militants again bombed an oil pipeline in Marib province.
Ali Hassan al Ahmadi, Yemen’s national security chief, said that “the use of friendly aircraft” to target al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would continue. Iran’s ambassador to Yemen denied that his country was running spy networks in the country.
Stanley McChrystal criticises reliance on drones as strikes hit Pakistan
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is preparing to retake areas in Abyan and Lahj provinces. The government claimed that AQAP has been driven out of Al Mahfad district in Abyan. A court sentenced five AQAP fighters to up to 10 years in prison.
Saudi Arabia denied that its Air Force has targeted al Qaeda militants in Yemen. Efforts are reportedly underway to convince former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave the country and go possibly to an Arab Gulf state, in hopes his exit will aid in the political transition process.
Radical al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki ‘purchased plane tickets for 9/11 hijackers’
Several jihadists recruitment cells dismantled in the Maghreb
A Yemeni man was arrested in Taiz for spying for Israel. Saudi Air Force jets have also been targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to a report.
Saudi jets bolster US drone attacks on Yemen: report
US drones killed Mukbel Abbad, a local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander, and two fighters in a strike in Rada’a in Al Baydah province. Two soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack in Shabwa province.
A local al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader and two fighters were killed in the third strike in Rada’a in Al Baydah province since Dec. 24, 2012.
Security forces detained 11 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters during operations in Dhala. Two escapees from a prison in Hodeidah were also detained.
In Nigeria, trapped between Islamist radicals and security forces
US drones killed three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike in Rada’a. AQAP offered a reward for the assassination of the US ambassador and US soldiers.
The US has launched four drone strikes in Yemen since Dec. 24. The uptick in attacks takes place after a nearly seven-week-long pause.
A Yemeni intelligence officer was assassinated in the capital of Hadramout province by suspected al Qaeda militants. The commander of Yemen’s central military region deployed an infantry brigade to Marib province to stop armed tribesmen who maintain ties with al Qaeda from attacking oil pipelines. Yemen’s Navy claimed its forces have intercepted an Iranian ship […]
US drones killed two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a drone strike in Hadramout. “Gunmen” blew up an LNG pipeline in Marib just hours after it was repaired from a previous attack.
The US has stepped up drone strikes in the eastern province of Hadramout this year.
A jihadist identified two of the five al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who were killed in a Dec. 24 drone strike in Hadramout as Abdullah Bawazir and Nabil al Kaldi. Both men escaped from a prison in Mukallah in June 2011.
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