Al-Qaida in Yemen captures town south of capital
SANAA, Yemen (AP) A band of al-Qaida militants took full control on Monday of a town 100 miles south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, overrunning army positions, storming the local prison and freeing at least 150 inmates.
The capture of the town of Radda expanded already significant territorial conquests by the militants, who have taken advantage of the weak central government and political turmoil roiling the nation for the past year during an anti-regime uprising inspired by Arab Spring revolts.
Authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently agreed to step down after months of resisting the protests against his 33-year rule. But he remains a powerful force within the country and a spark for ongoing unrest.
Al-Qaida in Yemen had previously taken control of a string of towns in the mostly lawless south. But its capture of Radda is particularly important because it gives the militants a territorial foothold closer than ever before to the capital, where many sleeper cells of the terror network are thought to be located.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfkzxZOFkABgIbVTKVqogkUQrk-w?docId=66a4c1e58570422b9b4440ef64ea983c
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)and UN Aid Worker was also kidnapped yesterday
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101426308
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)risk more lives looking for him in an Al-Qaeda infested country.
I'm glad we didn't risk a single American troop getting that bastard.
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)The "government" of Yemen is going down in flames. I will very suprised if US troops/drones don't get involved. We are far too beholden to Suadi Arabia.
MinervaX
(169 posts)That's in opposition to the US backed government. They received the moniker "Al-Qaida" so that the DoD and State Department can eradicate them more effectively. Watch the movie Babel for more perspective and don't fall for DoD propaganda.
Robb
(39,665 posts)"... Pledging allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahri during evening prayers" bit, I might agree with you.
MinervaX
(169 posts)They aren't very credible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Hajj_photographs_controversy
Robb
(39,665 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Do you think that AQAP is not in Yemen?
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)SANAA | Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:18am EST
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's presidential election, set for February, may be delayed by security concerns, the foreign minister said, raising the prospect that a U.S. and U.N.-backed plan to end months of unrest by easing the president from office may collapse.
The comments - the first suggestion the vote might be held up - came after Islamist fighters seized an entire city, underscoring U.S. and Saudi fears that chaos born of political crisis may empower al Qaeda in Yemen, which sits alongside key oil and cargo shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
The vote is central to the plan crafted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of Yemen's wealthy neighbors, to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power after nearly a year of protests against his 33-year rule.
more:http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/17/us-yemen-elections-idUSTRE80G09D20120117