Tag Archives: Yemen

An airstrike killed the deputy governor of Marib province, five of his bodyguards, and two al Qaeda operatives. Two American tourists kidnapped by a tribe have been freed. A Yemeni court upheld the sentence of death for two Iranian “spies.”

“Tribesmen” kidnapped two American in the Haymah district. The government said it would continue to pursue al Qaeda and Anwar al Awlaki. The government also said it would be able to reintegrate al Qaeda operatives released from Guantanamo Bay.

Saudi forces freed two German girls, ages three and six, who have been held captive for more than a year by a group thought to be linked to al Qaeda. The two girls were being held along the Saudi-Yemeni border. A Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death.

Nasser al Wahayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned that his group would attack the US if it kills or captures the radical cleric Anwar al Awlaki, and said more Sept. 11-style attacks would be launched against the US. “We are enamored with the attacks of September 11,” he said.

An al Qaeda group calling itself the Brigade of Sheikh Abu Omar al Baghdadi has claimed the failed suicide attack that targeted Britain’s Ambassador to Yemen in Sana’a on April 26. The suicide bomber was identified as Othman Nouman al Salawi.

The US Department of State placed financial sanctions on two top leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Qasim al Raimi, the top military commander for AQAP, and Nayif al Qahtani, an operational commander and link to the network in Saudi Arabia, were added to the list of terrorists sanctioned by the US.

The foreign minister said the American-born, radical al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki will not be extradited to the US if detained. “He must be tried once he is captured and convicted in his homeland but never by other governments,” Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi said.

The US has requested that Yemen extradite al Qaeda members Jaber Elbanneh and Anwar al Awlaki. The US is also probing for links between Awlaki and failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. Britain reopened its embassy after a failed assassination attempt against its ambassador two weeks ago.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula vowed to attack Saudi interests inside Yemen. The Times Square car bomber was “inspired” to wage jihad against the US by Anwar al Awlaki. A Yemeni court is questioning a US citizen who is a member of al Qaeda.

Security forces claimed to have killed 35 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives and detained more than two dozen during “preemptive raids” over the past several weeks. The raids took place in Sana’a and the provinces of Hodaida, Marib, Shabwa, and Abyan.

The suicide bomber who attacked the British Ambassador was an al Qaeda operative who spent two years in prison. Security forces detained “dozens” of al Qaeda operatives, including seven men who were associated with the suicide bomber and also spent time in jail.

A suicide bomber attempted to assassinate the British ambassador. The suicide bomber attacked the ambassador’s convoy as it traveled to the embassy in the capital of Sana’a. The bomber killed only himself and wounded three people, including two security personnel.