This?
Impending Coup in Yemen? Overthrow of Western Puppet Leader?
Related: Houthis Leading Yemen
That's part of the problem, yeah.
"2 French suspects with terror link held in Yemen" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press January 18, 2015
SANA, Yemen — Authorities have arrested two French citizens suspected of being members of Al Qaeda, the country’s national security chief said Saturday, without mentioning whether they were involved in this month’s attack by gunmen on a French newspaper.
General Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi said the pair were arrested on charges of belonging to the militant group, adding that Al Qaeda has about 1,000 members in Yemen, from 11 different countries.
‘‘Recently two Frenchmen were arrested on charges of belonging to Al Qaeda,’’ he told reporters.
The attack was set for tomorrow.
Are you scared yet?
Security officials said that the arrests were made before the attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, with one saying dozens of Westerners including French and other Europeans belonging to Al Qaeda are present in several of Yemen’s rural provinces. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
This smells like rank propaganda and nothing else.
Earlier Saturday, Shi’ite Houthi rebels abducted the chief of staff to Yemen’s president in the center of the capital, Sana, starkly highlighting the unrest plaguing the Arab world’s poorest country.
The rebels, who control large swaths of Yemen, claimed responsibility for kidnapping Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak. In a statement, they said they abducted him to disrupt a meeting scheduled for the same day that was to work on a new constitution and the reorganization of the country into federally organized regions.
‘‘We will not allow this draft resolution to pass,’’ they said, referring to a reform deal made last year to divide the country into six regions. They had previously rejected the plan.
Officials said gunmen kidnapped bin Mubarak and his two guards when they stopped their car in central Sana.
They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.
One of the youngest politicians in Yemen, 46-year-old businessman-turned-political figure bin Mubarak emerged during the uprising that forced longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in a US-backed agreement.
It's what I've been saying about the Arab Spring: it was an effort to replace stale dictators with fresh faces. In this case, the people of Yemen have thrown off their western puppet.
The Houthis seized large areas of Yemen, including Sana, last year as part of their protracted power struggle with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
And the U.N. came in and even cut a deal with them.
Critics say the Houthis are a proxy for Shi’ite Iran, charges the rebels deny.
Bin Mubarak is personally at odds with the Houthis. He was the president’s choice for prime minister last October, but his nomination was derailed after the Houthis opposed him for his ties to the president.
The last thing any Middle Eastern country needs is another Mubarak.
Meanwhile Saturday, thousands demonstrated in central Sana against the Shi’ite rebels in a protest called by civil society groups. They marched to the Defense Ministry, chanting: ‘‘Revolution against the Houthis! Revolution against terrorism!’’
A separate protest outside of the French Embassy saw demonstrators express outrage about the satirical Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon depictions of the prophet Mohammed.
Back where we started!
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I'm surprised the U.S. didn't swoop in and get them:
"US-Yemen raid saves eight hostages" New York Times November 26, 2014
WASHINGTON — In a predawn raid Tuesday, US Special Operations commandos and Yemeni troops rescued eight hostages being held in a cave in a remote part of eastern Yemen by an Al Qaeda affiliate there, officials from both countries said.
What a laugh.
The freed captives were six Yemeni citizens, a Saudi, and an Ethiopian, who were unharmed, Yemeni officials said in a statement. Earlier reports that a US hostage was freed were incorrect, according to Yemeni and US officials.
About two dozen US commandos, joined by a small number of US-trained Yemeni counterterrorism troops, flew secretly by helicopter to a location in Hadhramaut province near the Saudi border, according to US and Yemeni officials. The commandos then hiked some distance in the dark to a mountainside cave where they surprised the militants holding the captives.
Given all the staged and scripted propaganda we have been and are seeing at this time, I don't believe this. It's propaganda.
An ensuing shootout left seven of the Al Qaeda militants dead, the officials said. The hostages were then evacuated in helicopters.
The rare and risky dash into Al Qaeda-infested territory was organized relatively quickly, within two weeks of a request from President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen to help rescue the captives, one US official said.
This stinks!
The operation appeared to be at least partly an attempt to bolster the stature of Hadi, a committed but wobbling US ally whose authority was badly undermined when a rebel group suddenly seized control of Yemen’s capital in September.
Meaning this is rank public relations propaganda and bull$hit.
In an apparent effort to play down the leading US role in the clandestine operation, the Pentagon referred questions about what happened to the Yemeni government.
A statement from the Yemeni government made no mention of any US role in the hostage rescue, which is one of the principal missions of Joint Special Operations Command troops like the Army’s Delta Force or the Navy’s SEAL Team Six.
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But they could save this guy?
"Al Qaeda in Yemen threatens to kill US journalist" by Steve Kenny, New York Times December 05, 2014
WASHINGTON — The affiliate of Al Qaeda in Yemen is threatening to kill an American journalist it is holding hostage by the end of the week unless its demands are met, according to a video posted Wednesday night on YouTube.
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
In the video, the hostage identifies himself as Luke Somers, 33, a photojournalist who was kidnapped in Sana, the Yemeni capital, in September 2013.
Somers, wearing glasses and a purple shirt, appeared composed as he directly addressed the camera.
Related: The CIA's GlobalPost Assets
He isn't working for them, is he?
“I’m looking for any help that can get me out of this situation,” he said. “I’m certain that my life is in danger. So as I sit here now, I ask if anything can be done, please let it be done. Thank you very much.”
The video was the first public appearance by Somers, who had worked as a freelance editor and photographer in Yemen, since his disappearance more than a year ago. Its timing suggested a reaction to a rescue attempt Nov. 25, a joint raid by US commandos and Yemeni troops on a cave in a remote part of Yemen, where Somers was thought to have been held.
He wasn't there?
The video also shows a leader of the Al Qaeda unit, identified as Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi, who said that Somers would meet his “inevitable fate” in three days if the terrorist group’s demands were not met.
From Al-CIA-Duh studios?
“We warn Obama and the American government of the consequences of proceeding ahead in any other foolish action,” he said. Ansi was vague on details of the group’s demands, saying that they were “well known.”
The video’s existence was first reported by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist activity online.
Then it's COMPLETE CRAP!
An investigation this year by The New York Times found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid in 2013.
Oh, the NYTs! Who could ever doubt anything they found?
The inquiry found that the payments were made almost exclusively by European governments. Somers was born in Britain, and the Times of London reported he has both US and British citizenship.
Britain and the United States do not pay ransom. Two British aid workers were executed in recent months by the Islamic State because of failure to pay ransom.
The Somers video was made public eight days after the rescue of eight of the group’s hostages who were being held in the cave in eastern Yemen.
An American journalist was among the hostages that the US and Yemeni forces had hoped to rescue, according to officials from both countries.
When the rescuers arrived, Somers was not among the hostages whom the commandos had managed to free. Yemeni military officials said that Somers and several other hostages might have been moved two days before the rescue attempt, citing the account of one of the freed hostages. Six Yemenis, a Saudi, and an Ethiopian were rescued unharmed, Yemeni officials said in a statement.
So who tipped off the "terrorists?" If this is even real.
Somers was thought to be among a group that included citizens of Britain, South Africa, and Turkey.
The captives were being held in Hadhramaut, Yemen’s largest province, which is beyond the government’s control.
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"US hostage killed during rescue attempt, sister says" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press December 06, 2014
SANAA, Yemen — An American photojournalist held by Al Qaeda militants in Yemen has been killed in a failed rescue attempt, his sister said Saturday.
So he was there?
Lucy Somers told the Associated Press that she learned of her 33-year-old brother Luke Somers’ death from FBI agents. There was no immediate comment from Washington, nor from security officials in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
‘‘We ask that all of Luke’s family members be allowed to mourn in peace,’’ Lucy Somers said.
Yemen’s local Al Qaeda branch, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, posted a video Thursday that showed Somers, threatening to kill him in three days if the US didn’t meet the group’s demands, which weren’t specified. He was kidnapped in September 2013 from Sanaa.
The news of the failed rescue comes after a suspected US drone strike in Yemen killed nine alleged Al Qaeda militants early Saturday, a security official said. The drone struck at dawn in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province, hitting a suspected militant hideout, the official said. The official did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists.
Oh, so that's what the propaganda effort was meant to cover. Hope that wasn't off, 'er, over your head, readers.
At least six suspected militants were killed in an airstrike in the same province last month. Later Saturday, tribal leaders said they saw helicopters flying over an area called Wadi Abdan in Shabwa province.
American authorities rarely discuss their drone strike campaign in Yemen. The strikes are incredibly unpopular in Yemen due to civilian casualties, legitimizing for many the attacks on American interests.
No kidding? Don't they know Obummer is liberating them all?
In an online video released Saturday, Lucy Somers described her older brother as a romantic who ‘‘always believes the best in people.’’ She ended with the plea: ‘‘Please let him live.’’
In a statement, Somers’ father, Michael, also called his son ‘‘a good friend of Yemen and the Yemeni people’’ and asked for his safe release.
In a statement Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby acknowledged for the first time that a mysterious US raid last month had sought to rescue Somers but that he turned out not to be at the site.
Kirby did not elaborate on the joint US-Yemeni operation to free Somers, saying details remained classified. However, officials have said the raid targeted a remote Al Qaeda safe haven in a desert region near the Saudi border. Eight captives — including Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian — were freed. Somers, a Briton and four others had been moved days earlier.
Somers was kidnapped in September 2013 as he left a supermarket in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said Fakhri al-Arashi, chief editor of the National Yemen, where Somers worked as a copy editor and a freelance photographer during the 2011 uprising in Yemen.
Meaning he is/was a U.S. intelligence agency asset and spy.
The US considers Yemen’s Al Qaeda branch to be the world’s most dangerous arm of the group as it has been linked to several failed attacks on the US homeland.
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And the commandos killed some of the hostages they were trying to save?
"2 hostages die in failed US rescue bid" by Kareem Fahim and Eric Schmitt, New York Times December 07, 2014
SANA, Yemen — US commandos stormed a village in southern Yemen early Saturday in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda, but the raid ended horrifically, with the kidnappers killing the American and a South African held with him, US officials said.
Are you sure they weren't killed in the crossfire?
The hostages — Luke Somers, 33, an American photojournalist, and Pierre Korkie, 56, a South African teacher — were killed by their captors, militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, when they realized the rescue effort was underway.
President Obama said he had authorized the operation, led by about three dozen US Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos, after concluding that Somers’ life was in “imminent danger.” The same team that participated in the bin Laden raid fraud, and whose members seem to be meeting with many unusual and accidental deaths.
It was the second failed operation by US forces to rescue Somers from Yemen in less than two weeks.
When did Jimmy Carter get back in office?
Despite the deaths of the hostages, as well as several Yemeni civilians, Obama said his administration would not back down from using military power to free its captured citizens.
What a monster who doesn't care a wit about life.
“As this and previous hostage rescue operations demonstrate, the United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located,” he said in a statement.
Related: US policy on hostages is blindly rigid, critics say
The raid Saturday, however, may have doomed an effort by a South African aid group to free Korkie. Gift of the Givers, a South African relief organization that has projects in Yemen, said it had successfully negotiated the teacher’s release, and he had been expected to be freed by the militants Sunday. US officials said they were not aware of those arrangements.
Ooops!
Somers had been part of a group of freelance journalists who covered the aftermath of Yemen’s 2011 uprising and had stayed on, working as a freelance editor at English-language publications and as a photojournalist.
He was kidnapped in September 2013 while walking on a street in Sana, Yemen’s capital. Shortly before his death, Somers’ family released a video in which they pleaded with his captors to release him, while insisting they had no prior knowledge of the first rescue attempt.
On Saturday, Somers’ sister, Lucy Somers, told Associated Press that agents with the FBI had notified the family of her brother’s death. “We ask that all of Luke’s family members be allowed to mourn in peace,” she said.
In the village where the raid occurred, in the southern province of Shabwah, a tribal leader, Tarek al-Daghari al-Awlaki, said the US commandos raided four houses, killing at least two militants but also eight civilians. He said one of the civilians killed was a 70-year-old man.
And yet I was told how smoothness a raid it was above. The reports have gotten progressively worse.
“The shooting caused panic,” Daghari said. “Nine of the dead are from my tribe.”
He added that villagers had spent the rest of Saturday burying the dead and collecting spent bullet casings.
US officials said they acted while facing a perilous deadline and a tiny window of opportunity.
They always have some excuse.
Somers’ captors said in a video statement released Wednesday that they would kill him by Saturday unless a set of unspecified demands were met.
The ultimatum appeared to be largely a response to the first raid, on Nov. 25, an operation led by US Special Operations Commandos on a cave near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia. The commandos freed eight other hostages and killed seven militants, but found no sign of Somers, who apparently had been moved in the days before the operation.
By Saturday, though, the United States had tracked him to a walled compound in the village in southern Yemen.
US intelligence, including spy satellites, surveillance drones and eavesdropping technology, had pinpointed the location of Somers and one other Western hostage inside the compound, according to a senior military official who provided an account of the operation.
They can find that guy but the terrorists and others they can't find. Uh-huh.
America’s Special Operations forces have played a central role in global combat missions since the attacks of Sept. 11, the most notable being the raid into Pakistan in 2011 that killed Osama bin Laden.
See: Bin Laden Stories Show AmeriKan Media Not to be Believed
Nope!
But the challenges of distance, weather, equipment failure, pinpoint intelligence — and unpredictable actions by the adversary — are ever-present.
PFFFFT!
The operation Saturday began at about 1 a.m. The SEAL Team 6 commandos, joined by a small number of Yemeni counterterrorism troops, swept toward the village on a V-22 Osprey aircraft. They landed several hundred yards from the compound.
Their effort faced steep odds. The compound, which was in a remote, hilly area, was guarded by about half a dozen gunmen. And the approach to the compound was sufficiently difficult that the commandos had virtually no element of surprise, which they typically rely on.
The commandos were detected when they were less than 100 yards from the compound.
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The whole tale stinks of fabrication and fraud.
"Body of slain South African hostage being brought home" by Lynsey Chutel, Associated Press December 08, 2014
JOHANNESBURG — About 40 US special operations forces were involved in the half-hour rescue attempt in Shabwa province, which followed US drone strikes in the area east of the capital of Sana, US officials said.
******
Korkie was kidnapped in the Yemeni city of Taiz in May 2013, along with his wife, Yolande, who was doing relief work there. She was released in January without ransom as a result of negotiations by the South African humanitarian relief group Gift of the Givers.
Before the rescue attempt, tribal leaders in the Yemeni city of Aden were preparing to fetch Korkie.
His captors dropped their ransom fee of $3 million after realizing that Korkie and the negotiators had no money. Instead, Gift of the Givers had raised a $200,000 ‘‘facilitation fee’’ for the tribal leaders working directly with the Al Qaeda militants to release Korkie.
‘‘I think they realized after 11 months that we were not lying,’’ said Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the relief group. ‘‘How can a teacher from an ordinary South African family raise that kind of money? He’s an ordinary guy from a farm.’’
In her statement, Yolande Korkie chose not to blame anyone for her husband’s death.
‘‘Will we win anything if we hate and accuse? Will this return Pierre to us? No,’’ she said.
‘‘So today we choose to forgive. We choose to love. We choose to rejoice in the memories of Pierre and keep him alive in our hearts,’’ she added.
Strange reaction.
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"Yemen’s Al Qaeda denounces beheadings" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press December 09, 2014
SANA, Yemen — A senior military commander of Al Qaeda in Yemen denounced on Monday beheadings by the group’s Islamic State rivals, calling the act and its filming barbarous and asserting that US drone strikes are expanding Al Qaeda’s popularity in the country.
Good thing wall the videos are fake!
Folks, this propaganda is laughable.
The comments, by Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi, came in a video response to questions by reporters posted on one of the group’s Twitter accounts.
Al-CIA-Duh has a Twitter account, huh? The terrorist Twitter feed.
It appeared to have been recorded before Saturday’s killing of two hostages — an American and a South African — during an attempted US rescue from Al Qaeda militants. Both groups regularly execute prisoners but beheadings have become a trademark of Islamic State.
Who are their enablers?
The government in Yemen, a US ally, was kept informed about a South African aid group’s efforts to negotiate the release of a South African hostage before he died in the US raid, the head of the aid group said Monday.
And they didn't tell the U.S.?
The comments by Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, came amid questions about what officials of various governments knew, if anything, about efforts to release South African Pierre Korkie, who was said to be close to being freed even as another hostage with him, American Luke Somers, appeared to face imminent execution.
Ansi said that previous beheadings by Al Qaeda in Yemen were ‘‘individual acts’’ and were not endorsed by the leadership.
PFFFFFT!
He appeared to be referring to the beheading of 15 Yemeni soldiers by suspected Al Qaeda militants in August.
‘‘Filming and promoting it among people in the name of Islam and Jihad is a big mistake and not acceptable whatever the justifications are,’’ Ansi said. ‘‘This is very barbaric.’’
Translation: the propaganda campaign imploded.
Al Qaeda in Yemen has long faced attacks by US drone aircraft that have killed several of its leaders but also scores of civilians, drawing criticism from the government and human rights groups.
Ansi said that the drone strikes stoke outrage that boosts Al Qaeda’s popularity.
‘‘While they kill some of the jihadis, the US drone strikes increase the sympathy of Muslims with us,’’ he said.
Then maybe Obummer should stop doing them.
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"Yemen’s Al Qaeda blames Obama for hostage deaths" by Ahmed Al-Hajj, Associated Press December 12, 2014
SANA, Yemen — The video message by Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi, posted on one of the militant group’s Twitter accounts, was the first comment by Al Qaeda. He also mentioned Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik, who is serving a life sentence in the United States on a terrorism conviction.
The Blind Sheik was brought here by the CIA, but that is no defense.
*************
Ansi also warned that Al Queda will continue to ‘‘put the lives of all Americans in danger inside and outside of America . . . in the air, on the ground, and in the sea.’’
Anybody feel a hot wind coming from Yemen?
Washington considers Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni branch is officially known, to be the most dangerous affiliate of the terrorist group founded by Osama bin Laden. The group has been linked to several sophisticated plots to attack the United States that were botched or foiled.
With the permission of Yemen’s government, the United States has for years launched drone strikes against militant targets there and provided Yemen with hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance. Civilian casualties from the drone strikes have stoked anger.
Hours before the release of the video, the Al Qaeda affiliate said it shelled a Yemeni air base used by US forces.
It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties at the Al-Annad base early Thursday in the southern province of Lahj. Ambulances rushed to the site and witnesses say they saw bodies taken to a nearby hospital.
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"Shi’ite rebels gain ground in capital
SANA — Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels defeated rival tribesmen and took control of a northern district of the capital Saturday, their spokesman said. Mohammed Abdel-Salam, spokesman of the rebels known as Houthis, said the forces took control of Arhab, a district of greater Sana (AP)."
That will get you this:
"Bombers kill 26, including 16 students in Yemen" Associated Press December 17, 2014
SANA, Yemen — Two suicide car bombers rammed their vehicles into a Shi’ite rebel checkpoint and a house south of the Yemeni capital Tuesday as a school bus was traveling nearby, killing at least 26 people, including at least 16 primary school students, according to the Yemeni government, rebels, and witnesses.
An Al-CIA-Duh special!
Witnesses said that the first car was loaded with potatoes apparently disguising explosives underneath. When the car bomber arrived at the checkpoint manned by rebels, he blew up the vehicle as the students’ bus was passing. After the first explosion, a second car targeted the home of a Shi’ite rebel leader, Abdullah Idris.
State TV quoted the country’s Supreme Security Committee — Yemen’s highest security body — as saying that at least 26, including 16 students and 10 civilians, were killed in the twin bombings.
Witnesses at the site of the attack said that the rebels brought four pickup trucks and dumped dozens of bodies into them while several ambulances rushed to the scene to carry away the wounded. Body parts littered the street along with open bags of potatoes.
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"Suicide bomber at Yemen ceremony kills at least 24" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press January 01, 2015
SANAA, Yemen — A suicide bomber attacked a ceremony Wednesday hosted by Shi’ite rebels commemorating the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, killing at least 23 people and wounding 48 in a country plagued by militants, authorities said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a cultural center in the city of Ibb, some 120 miles from the capital, Sanaa, though Yemen’s local Al Qaeda branch has carried out similar attacks in the past. Civilian officials, Shi’ite rebels, a famed poet, and a leader of a political party all died in the attack, which left blood soaking the floor of an auditorium as men wailed to God.
The hallmark of an Al-CIA-Duh attack. At least they condemn beheadings!
Mohammed Abdel-Baki, the local spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said the governor of Ibb province had been at the event, but wasn’t wounded. He described the attack as a ‘‘massacre.’’
Abdel-Baki said the local hospital in Ibb had 24 corpses from the attack.
Yemen’s Interior Ministry put the toll at 23 people killed and 48 wounded.
The Houthis seized large areas of Yemen, including Sanaa, earlier this year as part of a protracted power struggle with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Their critics view them as a proxy for Shi’ite Iran, charges the rebels deny.
In a brief statement, Hadi vowed to chase the terrorists who carried out the attack, saying, ‘‘They will not escape prosecution.’’
Even if they work for him.
Meanwhile, in the central city of Radda, a security official said a series of blasts that targeted Houthi positions killed at least five people.
The city has been a battleground between Al Qaeda fighters and allied tribes and Houthis.
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"Suicide bomber kills at least 37 at Yemen police academy" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press January 08, 2015
SANA, Yemen — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden minibus into a gathering of recruits outside a police academy in the heart of Yemen’s capital Wednesday, killing at least 37 people in the latest high-profile attack to hit Sana.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemen’s local Al Qaeda branch has carried out similar assaults in the past against the army and police in this impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, viewing them as US proxies.
The United States provides counterterrorism training and assistance to Yemeni forces, and frequently carries out drone strikes targeting Al Qaeda militants in Yemen.
At the scene of the blast, the dead and wounded lay on a sidewalk against a wall. On the pavement, water sprayed by firefighters to extinguish the blaze from the explosion of the minibus mixed with pools of blood. A charred taxicab smoldered near what remained of the minibus, yards from the gate of the police academy.
The bomber struck as cadets were lined up outside the academy, preparing to enroll, witnesses said.
Police Brigadier General Abdulaziz al-Qudsi said at least 37 people were killed and 66 wounded. Another security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media, said at least three civilians were among the dead.
Both the United Nations and the United States condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
Violence has soared in Yemen since Shi’ite rebels known as Houthis swept down from their northern strongholds last year, capturing Sana and other cities.
Yeah, the timing of all this is very interesting.
The rebels are challenging the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, demanding a greater share of power. But on occasion, the rebels have also gone after Al Qaeda, with clashes and targeted attacks leaving scores dead.
Then shouldn't they be AmeriKan allies?
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"Yemen senior intelligence official kidnapped" Associated Press December 26, 2014
SANA, Yemen — Suspected Shi’ite rebels kidnapped Yemen’s second-highest intelligence official from his house in the capital Sana on Thursday, security officials and a close associate of the general said.
The officials and the associate said gunmen came to the home of Major General Yehia al-Marani at dawn and demanded the guards wake him up. The associate said the general ordered his guards to put down their weapons to avoid a firefight and went along with the gunmen. His personal guard and driver were also taken but were later released.
The associate spoke anonymously for fear of retribution, while the officials are not authorized to brief reporters.
The associate and the officials identified the gunmen as Shi’ite rebels known as the Houthis, who took control of Sana in September, challenging the central government. The Houthis have imposed their hold on the capital, at one point besieging the defense ministry to prevent a senior official they opposed from entering the building.
So what we have here is the U.S. losing a puppet, and then Al-CIA-Duh getting active. while tying it to what happened in France.
The rebels demanded President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi appoint a new government, accusing the previous one of being too close to fundamentalist Sunni Muslim groups. Even though a new government has been named, the rebels are keeping up their security offensive.
It was not immediately clear why the rebels wanted Marani, who oversees internal security. He was in charge of the intelligence department for 15 years in the northern province of Saada, the stronghold of the Shi’ite rebels.
I'm not clear on why I continue to read this propaganda.
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Related:
"Secretary of State John Kerry stopped briefly in Germany on Saturday to meet with the ailing ruler of Oman, the Mideast country that has served an important intermediary role in talks on Iran’s nuclear program. Kerry, headed to India for an international conference, met for about 90 minutes with Sultan Qaboos bin Said, 74, who has been receiving medical treatment in Germany since November (AP)."
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Yemeni troops battle Shi’ite rebels in Yemeni capital" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press January 20, 2015
SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s US-backed leadership came under serious threat Monday as government troops clashed with Shi’ite rebels near the presidential palace and a key military base in what one official called ‘‘a step toward a coup.’’
All the times such things were not reported as such in my pos war daily (think Ukraine for starters) means this is not a welcome development for the globe-kickers running the show.
Either that, or it's an excuse to send in the troops!
The militants seized control of state media in fierce fighting that marked the biggest challenge yet to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi by the rebels, known as Houthis, who swept down from their northern strongholds last year and captured the capital in September.
The violence threatened to undermine efforts by the United States and its allies to battle Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate, which claimed responsibility for the attack on a Paris satirical magazine this month and which Washington has long viewed as the global network’s most dangerous branch.
PFFFFT!
What NONSENSE!
The Houthis and forces loyal to Hadi have been in a tense standoff for months and the two sides traded blame for the outbreak of violence Monday. Witnesses said heavy machine gun fire could be heard as artillery shells struck around the presidential palace. Civilians in the area fled as columns of black smoke rose over the palace and sirens wailed throughout the city.
Hadi, whose government has ceded control over nearly the entire capital, does not live at the palace, and extra soldiers and tanks are deployed around his private residence, which is nearby.
As fighting escalated Monday, the convoys of Yemen’s prime minister and a top official affiliated with the Houthis came under fire, and rebel fighters took over Yemen state television and its official SABA news agency, Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf said.
‘‘This is a step toward a coup and it is targeting the state’s legitimacy,’’ Sakkaf said.
Cease-fire negotiations continued throughout the day by a presidential committee that included the interior and defense ministers, a presidential aide, and a tribal sheik close to the Houthis. By the end of the day, a tenuous truce appeared to be holding.
The announcement of a cease-fire came after witnesses said the rebels had seized control of strategic hills that overlook both the palace and the military camp south of it. There was no government confirmation of the loss of territory.
At least nine people were killed in the fighting and 67 were injured, said Yemen’s deputy health minister, Nasser Baoum.
Yemen’s international allies, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, called for steps to implement and consolidate the cease-fire, expressing their support for Hadi.
‘‘We reject the use of violence by those who seek to overturn Yemen’s political transition for their own interests,’’ the US Embassy said.
Unless it is the EUSraeli empire and its puppet proxies or trained terrorists doing it.
I mean, the hypocrisy that oozes from this government and its mouthpiece.... ugh.
The Houthis blamed Hadi for the escalation in hostilities, saying he reneged on a UN-sponsored agreement with the group in September that promised better representation on a committee to oversee the drafting of a new constitution. According to the agreement, Hadi was to appoint new members within 15 days to the 85-member national committee.
I noted that, and it doesn't get much play does it?
Hisham Al-Omeisy, a Yemeni activist who lives near the presidential palace, said the fighting began just after 6 a.m., with a shell hitting a hill controlled by the Houthis. The militants responded with heavy artillery fire, he said.
Khaled al-Radhi, a 35-year-old military contractor who also lives nearby, said after hours of intense shelling, the Houthis seized control of a strategic hill that overlooks both the palace and a key military installation. ‘‘The group took control of the area,’’ Radhi said.
The Houthis are seen by their critics as a proxy of Shi’ite Iran and are believed to be allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country for more than three decades before he was ousted in 2012 after Arab Spring protests.
The Shiites and Al-Saleh-Duh working together, huh? Even as the Houthis fight CIA-duh?
While the militants deny any Iran link, their slogan, ‘‘Death to Israel, Death to America!’’ is a variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shi’ite militants in Iraq.
May the propaganda pre$$ of AmeriKa suffer death at their own hands.
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