Al-Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for Sept. 15 attacks on oil facilities in the Arab state and vowed more strikes against the US and its allies.
"Let the Americans and their allies among the worshippers of the cross and their apostate aides ... know that these operations are only the first spark and that what is coming is more severe and bitter," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.
The authenticity of the statement posted on a Web site used by Islamist militant groups could not be verified. The statement, believed to be the first posting by Yemen's branch of al-Qaeda, was dated Ramadan 20, which corresponds to Oct. 13.
PHOTO: EPA
A US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said analysts were working to try to verify the authenticity of the posting.
"We know there is now some sort of organization that calls itself al-Qaeda Yemen," the US official said. "We think they've been trying to get this up on a Web site for a while."
Yemen had said that four bombers were killed on Sept. 15, when security forces blew up four rigged cars before they reached oil and gas facilities in the eastern provinces of Marib and Hadarmout. A worker with Canadian oil company Nexen Inc was also killed.
The attempts came days after al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued a videotaped threat of attacks on the Persian Gulf and on facilities he blamed for stealing Muslim oil.
Commenting on the foiled attacks, the group said: "These operations came in response to directives from our emir [leader] Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may God preserve him, in which he ordered Muslims to hit the Western economy and stop the robbing of Muslims' wealth."
The group also said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh should "repent, return to his faith, apply Islamic law, renounce democracy, the religion of America and abandon [his] alliance with the infidels."
"Let him [Saleh] know that his rule will not last [forever] and that God bestows his victory upon his soldiers ..."
Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1990, has cracked down on al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and bombings in the Arab state.
"Let them know that our blood is not cheap. The killing of Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will not pass without revenge ... let the tyrant of Yemen know that the killing of Sheikh Ali al-Harthi by US missiles will not pass without revenge," the statement continued.
Harthi, al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, was killed by a missile fired by an unmanned CIA plane in Yemen in 2002 and Iraq's al-Qaeda branch chief Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike in June. It said the operations were named after the two men.
Yemeni officials were not immediately available for comment, but the US intelligence official said the group appears to be trying to emerge as an organization.
"They clearly have tried to be organized. They carried out attacks in September that showed some semblance of an organization. But whether this is from them or bears that mark, I don't know," he said.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS