Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni wing, seen by the US as the most dangerous branch of the militant network, accused Yemen’s government of killing seven civilians in air strikes last week and vowed to retaliate.
The Islamist group has stepped up attacks on government troops in Yemen’s south, exploiting turmoil in a country convulsed by months of protests against the 33-year rule of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
CIA Director David Petraeus said on Tuesday the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had emerged as the “most dangerous” affiliate of the Islamist militant network a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
In a statement posted on Islamist Web sites late on Monday, AQAP said Yemen’s military last week hit two mosques, a hospital and a market place in Abyan Province, which lies close to a strategic shipping channel.
“Seven Muslim civilians were killed, a number more were wounded and several buildings were destroyed. The mujahidin [fighters] confirmed that none of them were hurt because they were not present in these areas,” the AQAP statement said. “The mujahidin stress that they will not leave these crimes unpunished.”
The US and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled AQAP attacks, fear the militants have been emboldened by the chaos left after the mass protests in Yemen.
Saleh has been in Riyadh since June recovering from wounds suffered in a bomb attack on his compound in Sana’a amid the demonstrations, partly inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.
A report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Yemen’s government to “take immediate action to end attacks against civilians and civilian targets by security forces,” including their use of live ammunition on crowds.
In a separate statement, Sunni Muslim AQAP said it was behind a suicide bomb attack last month against Shi’ite insurgents known as Houthis.
The bomber drove an explosives-rigged car into a gathering of Houthis in the northern province of al-Jawf, where the insurgents had been clashing with a Sunni Islamist group.
Al-Jawf lies along the border with Saudi Arabia — a reminder that militants linked to AQAP are not confined to Yemen’s south.
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