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| Arabia |
| Al-Qaeda' shadow wears heavy over Yemen |
| 2013-12-10 |
| [Yemen Post] As officials are slowly coming to terms with last Wednesday's terror attack, assessing losses and damages as well as mulling over the country' security response system, more details of the true extent of al-Qaeda's operations have come forth, painting a rather grim picture. On Sunday evening Yemeni officials confirmed last week sabotage against the country's gas terminal in Balhaf, in the eastern province of Shabwa, was attributed to al-Qaeda bully boys. Militants targeted last Thursday a main pipeline in the Usaylan area of the Shabwa province, forcing engineers to stop all operations and evacuate workers back to the capital, over fear for their safety. "A kaboom halted the flow of crude oil through the oil pipeline in Shabwa, a government official told the press on Sunday, adding the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. Because of the sheer extent of the damaged caused by the attack, local officials confirmed that repairs could last as long as three weeks, seriously compromising the country's gas production and thus its ability to keep up with its contractual obligations. With al-Qaeda having increased the violence and frequency of its attacks against Yemen's political and economic interests, experts have warned that before it gets any better, the impoverished might yet face some rather uncertain times. Because of the guerrilla nature of the terror attacks, Yemen would have to remain ever more vigilant going forward if it hopes to foil the terror group's plans for Yemen. Several newspapers have alleged that al-Qaeda could be in league with bigwigs to promote some factions' agenda, a thought which is troubling many. |
| Posted by:Fred |