Category: Yemen

UPDATE: Here is an English translation:
Statement from al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula- “Package Operations of Attrition”
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NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula’s new statement “Package Operations of Attrition” takes responsibility for last weeks attempted Cargo plot. In it, they also claim that they were the ones who downed the UPS cargo plane on September 3, 2010 and are disappointed that no one gave them credit for it. This is interesting since officials in Dubai earlier in the week denied any possibility of it. As such, AQAP is either taking advantage of the situation or Dubai is covering something up. As of now I would go with the former explanation. They also stated that they were planning on using this tactic on passenger jets as well. In addition, AQAP accuses the Saudis of interfering with their plan to blow up the Jewish synagogues in Chicago.
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al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — “Package Operations of Attrition”
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In the past month, Yemen has returned to the spotlight. The CIA now believes that the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is a larger security threat to the United States than al Qaeda Central in Pakistan. Since then, press accounts have stated that the United States government plans to carry out drone attacks in Yemen, and reported that U.S. Central Command plans to give $1.2 billion in aid to Yemen’s military over a five-year period. But such policies, no matter how well-intentioned, are unlikely to solve the very real challenges posed by al Qaeda’s presence in Yemen and may well make the situation worse.
It originally appeared that there was widespread consensus in the government on providing such military aid to Yemen. But a recent article in the New York Times highlights that there is a vigorous debate within the Obama administration about the efficacy of such aid. The Obama administration has been debating the legality of droning an American citizen (i.e. Anwar al-Awlaki). Before rushing into a major new program, it’s worth recalling the reasons why past U.S.-backed efforts aimed at eliminating al Qaeda’s presence in Yemen have failed.
Read the rest here.

UPDATE:

• On October 22, Muḥammad ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, an intelligence officer, was killed by two masked men on a motorcycle near his home in Mukallā. It should be noted that the above individual might not have been on the list, rather it is a conjecture on my part since his name bares some resemblance to an individual on the hitlist.
• On October 12, a month after AQAP posted the below hitlist, two gunmen on a motorcycle killed their first victim, Ghāzī al-Samāwī, a criminal investigations officer.

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NOTE: Yesterday, al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula posted a hit list, which has fifty-five names on it to the doors of residents in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan Governorate. The list named thirty-one state security officers, fifteen members of the judiciary police and nine members of military intelligence.
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AQAP’s Southern Yemen Hitlist
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