Yemen: al-Qaeda, southern separatists attack

Yemeni authorities captured the mastermind of a suspected al-Qaeda attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Aden that killed 11 people, the Defense Ministry said June 19 on its 26sep.net website. The captured man was identified as Goudol Mohammed Ali Naji. The deadly attack, which took place earlier that day, was apparently intended to free prisoners, but authorities and witnesses are at odds on whether any were actually freed. Authorities said there were no prisoners in the building at the time; witnesses said the assailants were seen leaving the building in a bus, taking freed detainees with them. Last week, the Yemen-based “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” urged the country’s eastern tribes to rise up against the government and threatened retaliation for alleged air strikes in the area, the US monitoring group SITE said. (AFP, June 20)

The following day, another of Yemen’s multiple conflicts escalated as gunmen from the southern separatist movement ambushed a military convoy, killing two officers in Dali province. Officials said a number of the attackers were also killed in the ambush. (AP, June 20)

See our last post on Yemen.

Please leave a tip or answer the Exit Poll.