Yemen forces are preparing for second offensive on Al Qaeda

Source : CNN 01/10/2010
Yemen has dispatched paramilitary forces to a southern province following an ambush on the local governor by suspected al Qaeda militants, a government official said Thursday.

The forces are preparing for a second offensive on Shabwa province "very soon," said the Yemeni official who did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

They are preparing to raid a mountainous area where a terror cell leader is suspected of hiding.

The governor of Shabwa province, Ali al-Ahmadi, was not injured when his motorcade was hit by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. One member of his security detail was killed and nine others injured .The incident occurred Wednesday in Shabwa, a stronghold of an al Qaeda wing.

Yemeni security forces haven't determined who is responsible, but won't rule out the involvement of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The attack comes a week after Yemen's military launched an offensive against militants in Hawta.

During the offensive, investigators found documents that describe plots designed by al Qaeda leaders in Hawta, Yemen's news agency, Saba, reported.

The plots reportedly called for the targeting of senior military and security figures, foreigners, and local and foreign interests in and around the province.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula grabbed the attention of the West with the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight as it was preparing to land in Detroit, Michigan, on December 25, 2009.

The suspect in the incident, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, who has pleaded not guilty to six federal terrorism charges, was reportedly trained and armed in Yemen