Six suspected al-Qaida members arrested in Yemen

Six suspected al-Qaida members arrested in Yemen

2011-06-29 01:08:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

ADEN, YEMEN (BNO NEWS) -- The Yemeni government on Tuesday announced that six suspected al-Qaida members were arrested in the port city of Aden, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

The six individuals were labeled as most-wanted al-Qaida elements of the Aden cell. The arrest took place on Monday as the individuals were identified by the Yemen's Army in a checkpoint.

Yemeni authorities said that the suspected militants were specialists in bomb making and were attempting to infiltrate into Aden when arrested. The suspected al-Qaida members were allegedly planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Aden and other cities.

Also on Monday, Yemenis security forces clashed with al-Qaida members in the Doves valley in Abyan province. Soldiers killed five suspected militants of the terrorist organization while seven service members were injured.

Last week, 62 prisoners escaped from the central security prison in the southern city of Mukalla. The convicts were all al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members and were serving sentences of over five years in prison on charges relating to terrorism.

Three prisoners were killed and two arrested during the prison break. In addition, one jail guard was killed during the incident which was labeled as the biggest prison breakout of AQAP members in Yemen.

In May, authorities informed that AQAP militants were taking advantage of the unrest in the country to perpetrate terrorist acts; mostly in the southern region. Protests continue in the Middle Eastern country as hundreds of people have taken to the streets demanding the immediate departure of longtime President Saleh.

AQAP is based primarily in the tribal areas outside of the capital city Sana'a, which remains outside the control of the Yemeni government. The terrorist organization has orchestrated high-profile attacks since 2009.

Most notably, AQAP sent Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight on December 25, 2009. This was the first attempted U.S. homeland attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-29