Al-Qaeda’s regional wing claimed responsibility for an attack on a checkpoint in southern Yemen on Saturday in which eight soldiers were killed, a security official said.
State media has blamed fighting in the south, in which dozens have been killed in the past three months, on al-Qaeda’s resurgent regional wing and armed separatist militants.
The attack on the checkpoint occurred in Zinjibar, capital of the flashpoint Abyan Province.
Al-Qaeda’s wing previously focused on high-profile strikes on foreign targets, but has started to aim at the state in response to enhanced US-Yemeni cooperation in a crackdown against the group that has included air strikes and raids.
In the capital, Sanaa, authorities arrested three al-Qaeda members who were preparing attacks, an official said.
Security measures were stepped up at key installations during a crackdown on militants, the Interior Ministry said.
The US embassy said on its Web site last week that it was suspending non-essential travel outside Sanaa for its staff because of “continuing threats from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP] and its affiliates.”
Yemen surged to the forefront of Western security concerns when AQAP claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of a US-bound plane in December.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, also struggling with rebels in the north, is under international pressure to quell domestic conflicts and focus on the al-Qaeda wing.
Western powers and neighboring top oil exporter Saudi Arabia fear al-Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen to use it as a launch-pad for attacks regionally and beyond.
US officials said last week Washington would likely step up strikes against al-Qaeda in Yemen, seeking to apply the same degree of pressure there as covert drone attacks in Pakistan have had on the core group, but Sanaa rejected an increased US role in the fight against al-Qaeda.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia