Al Qaeda was behind Yemen’s bloody attack, top security official suspended

By Nasser Arrabyee/19/06/2010

The Yemen’s top security committee said that Al Qaeda was behind the today’s attack on the main office of the intelligence in Aden where about 20 people were killed and injured.

A total 11 people including three women and a child were killed in the attack which was implemented by group of terrorists at 8 am this morning in one of the security offices in Aden, said a statement by the country’s supreme committee on security which held an urgent meeting after the attack. The statement said the attack had the hall marks of Al Qaeda, vowing to pursue the attackers and arrest them and bring them to justice.

The statement did not say what happened to the attackers and whether they were able to free some of Al Qaeda prisoners or not.

Some eyewitnesses say they saw five attackers and that they (attackers) were able to free four Al Qaeda prisoners and escaped with them in two cars before the security forces came and surrounded the place.

Sources said that the director security of Aden Abdullah Kairan was suspended after the attack because he could not take quick measures to arrest the attackers who implemented their operation and escaped. The same sources said that the director of the political security in Aden Faisal Al Bahr, was in a vacation.

An expert on Al Qaeda affairs said Al Qaeda must have been behind the attack. “The attack has not only the fingerprints of Al Qaeda but also the stamp and signature of Al Qaeda,” said Saeed Al Jamhi, the author of Al Qaeda in Yemen.

“Al Qaeda wants to deliver a message that it is still strong and that it can hit in the maximum security places,” Al Jamhi said.

Earlier in the day local sources said 14 people at least including 10 soldiers, 3 women and one child, were killed in an attack on the Yemen’s intelligence headquarters office in the southern city of Aden by gunmen believed to be Al Qaeda militants.

10 soldiers were killed and 9 others were injured in addition to three women and one child were killed in the attack, the sources said.

About five gunmen some in women’s clothes and some in military uniforms opened fire at the guards of the office of the Political Security in Al Tawahai area in Aden city early morning Saturday killing and injuring more than 10 people including women and children, the sources said.

The gunmen , who were shouting Allahu Akbar, Allaha is greater, Allah is greater, targeted the daily parade of the soldiers in addition to the releasing their prisoners, the sources added. It was not clear whether the attacker could free some prisoners and escape with them.

No one from the attackers was harmed or arrested , but all they escaped before security enhancements surrounded the place, the sources added.
The attackers were trying to release prisoners but they failed.

Eyewitnesses said the attackers arrived at the gate of the office at 7am in two cars and that clashes between them and the guards continued about one hour. RPGs were heard in the clashes.

The security sources said that the attackers had the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda recently threatened in internet statements to retaliate for the attacks implemented by the government forces against them in various places in Yemen over the last few months.

Meanwhile, three children were injured one of them seriously, on Saturday when Al Qaeda in the eastern province of Mareb fired a missile on a military position in Mareb, where the government is implementing a military campaign against Al Qaeda. The local sources said the missile missed the military position and fell in a residential area injuring three children.

On Friday June 18, 2010, Al Qaeda called the tribesmen in Mareb to fight against the government and not surrender any member of them to the government which is “agent to the Americans”.