Yemeni Forces Clash with al-Qaida Militants
30 December 2009
Yemeni security officials say forces have clashed with al-Qaida militants in western Hudaydah province.
Security officials say government forces were on an operation to capture al-Qaida militants in the Deir Jaber region. They say at least one suspected militant was captured and several others were wounded in the clashes.
Earlier this week, a group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said it was behind the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. passenger plane on December 25. The group issued an Internet statement saying the attack was in retaliation for U.S. support of operations against al-Qaida militants in Yemen.
Yemen has been intensifying its campaign against rebels and suspected al-Qaida terrorists, conducting a series of airstrikes and other raids that it says resulted in militant deaths and arrests.
U.S. intelligence officials and experts say al-Qaida has been building a base in Yemen in recent years.
They say the terrorist network sees Yemen as a new front in its global ambitions, rivaling its current base in the lawless Afghan-Pakistani border region.
Yemen is the ancestral home of al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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