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Tag: Yemen

  • TSA Bans Uncharged Cellphones on Certain Flights

    TSA Bans Uncharged Cellphones on Certain Flights

    The U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced Sunday that it will not allow cellphones or other electronics on U.S.-bound planes originating at some international airports if the devices are not charged up. The ban is part of heightened security measures surrounding Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, seeking to blow up a jetliner.

    Passengers will be required to power up their devices at certain security checkpoints, to assure that the encasement is not a hidden bomb. Laptops and tablets will be included in the checks, and U.S. officials have stated that security officers will be paying closer attention to passengers’ shoes, as they can be used as bombs as well.

    The added security will apply primarily to U.S.-bound direct flights from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, though the TSA did not specify which airports will be affected, and said in a statement, “As the traveling public knows, all electronic devices are screened by security officers. During the security examination, officers may also ask that owners power up some devices, including cell phones. Powerless devices will not be permitted onboard the aircraft. The traveler may also undergo additional screening.”

    U.S. officials have feared that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) bomb makers have figured out how to fashion a difficult to detect explosive device into a smartphone. Interestingly, American authorities have singled out the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy series as the phones to keep an eye on as being potential bombs.

    Devices found to not be powered up will be confiscated, and the passenger carrying it might be taken into custody for questioning. The TSA adds, “[we] will continue to adjust security measures to ensure that travelers are guaranteed the highest levels of aviation security conducted as conveniently as possible.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Al-Qaida Bombarded by Air Stikes in Yemen

    Al-Qaida Bombarded by Air Stikes in Yemen

    Several air strikes in south Yemen have been made against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, this weekend, leaving an unknown death toll. An anonymous Yemeni official told CNN the scale of these attacks is “massive and unprecedented” against “high-level AQAP targets”. “It’s too early to tell how many militants were killed, but the number is at least a dozen,” the official said, adding that it takes time to see the precise details of the damage, including if there were any foreign nationals or civilians killed.

    Another anonymous official told CNN “I’m worried this is an attempt to convince Yemenis that the U.S. and Yemen have turned a corner and are in the process of destroying AQAP. At this hour, the numbers of militants being reported as being killed keeps changing, and we still aren’t sure if any civilians have been killed or wounded in these strikes.”

    A Reuters report placed the death toll on Sunday at 30 which, with the strikes on Saturday, brings a potential total of 40 dead this weekend. According to local tribe sources, at least 25 bodies were recovered and transferred to nearby towns. It was not revealed if these were the bodies of al-Qaida militants or Yemeni Civilians.

    There is no confirmation if drones were involved in this weekend’s attacks. Yemen is one of the few counties where the United States operates and performs drone strikes. Yemen President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was quoted by the BBC praising the US for its efforts as they “have greatly helped in limiting Al-Qaeda activities, despite some mistakes, which we are sorry about.” However, the Yemeni legislature has banned US drones after strikes killed over a dozen civilians in December.

    Some over Twitter were less than pleased with the idea of more drone strikes in Yemen:

    The attacks come after an internet video surfaced showing al-Qaida members greeting recently freed prisoners. The Times of India reported that leader Nasser al-Wuhaishi vowed “to remove the cross, (and) the bearer of the cross, America.” The authenticity of the video could not be verified.

    Image via ABC News, YouTube

  • AQAP Stages Suicide Car Bombing, Kills 38 Yemenis

    The AP via USA Today reported earlier today that al-Qaeda militants in Yemen launched a coordinated attack on a military barracks in the southern part of the country called Shabwa province. 38 soldiers were killed in the attacks and dozens of others were wounded.

    Yemeni defense official Maj. Mohammed Nasser, speaking about the attacks, said that the soldiers were caught unprepared, and that Shabwa Province is widely known to be an al-Qaeda stronghold. The attacks began as militants tried to storm three military encampments in Maysaa, Kamp, and al-Ain. At Kamp, the guards outside the barracks were overpowered and a suicide car bomb was driven inside; most of the casualties occurred when this first bomb detonated.

    At al-Ain, ground-based infantry fighting was continuing to occur throughout the morning, and a second car bomb was detonated outside the barracks.

    The attack seems to have had a dual purpose: Nasser reported that although the militants lost eight jihadists in the assault, they gained six hostages in the form of seized soldiers and five unspecified military vehicles.

    Yemeni authorities have been waging war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, because officials in Washington consider it to be the deadliest and most dangerous offshoot of the al-Qaeda brand. AQAP has recently been orchestrating a series of attacks on the military and has claimed responsibility for the assassinations of a variety of officials.

    These latest attacks are the largest yet made against the Yemeni military, and they come in the wake of warnings from Sanaa that more al-Qaeda attacks are on the way. In response to the continued attacks on Yemeni security forces, the United States stepped up the drone war efforts.

    The AP also reported that the AQAP franchise had claimed responsibility for several foiled bomb plots against US citizens, including one involving an underwear bomb on an airline and another plot to hide mail bombs in toner printer cartridges.

    [Image via a brief YouTube video of an Al-Jazeera report on AQAP]

  • Al-Qaeda Plot to Bomb Yemeni Industries Foiled

    The country of Yemen has foiled a plot by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (also known as Ansar al-Sharia). The plot comes in the wake of warnings from al Qaeda that would impact travelling Americans, as well as the shutting down of many American embassies in Africa and the Middle East.

    Considered the most active and dangerous cell in the international terror syndicate, 3 operatives of AQAP were nabbed with “weapons, explosives, and maps of foreign enemies,” according to a report to Yemeni news agency SABA. The operatives also had marked the houses of other important individuals on their map.

    The Hill says that the planned response was most likely a retaliation for a recent offensive conducted by the Yemeni military in joint operation with U.S. drones and intelligence, all as part of a coordinated assault on AQAP-related targets in the Yemeni region.

    NBC reports Rajeh Badi, a press advisor to Yemen’s prime minister, as saying to Reuters that the plot would have involved “dozens of al Qaeda militants dressed in Yemeni army uniforms on the night of the 27th of Ramadan… the plot aimed to seize the al-Dabbah oil export terminal in Hadramout and the Balhaf gas export facility, as well as the city of Mukalla.”

    The Balhaf gas plant is a $4.5 billion facility, and is considered one of the most strategic projects in Yemen. The al-Dabbah oil export terminal is equally as strategic, as oil and gas represent 70 percent of Yemen’s exports and about 90 percent of Yemen’s foreign currency revenue. The al Qaeda takeover failed because of heightened security and tighter entry control, specifically for these two facilities.

    The Christian Science Monitor finds it interesting that the foiled attacks are coming in the wake of the NSA leaking scandal, implying that more cynical commentators believe the opportunity is ripe for the NSA to highlight its more useful procedures while pushing its Orwellian programs to the back-burner. The U.S. has launched four drone strikes in the last 10 days, which have apparently killed one terrorist per strike.