The US and Britain have begun to expand efforts to target Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen after the failed terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 by a Nigerian man with connections to Yemeni terrorists.
Analysts say the ramping up of the US-UK anti-terrorism effort in the Gulf state could employ expanded use of Predator drones - unmanned vehicles that have been used to launch missiles against Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
Back in November of 2002, a US drone was used to kill the top Al Qaeda leader in Yemen, Abu al-Harithi.
In the days since the Christmas Day terror attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who had twice traveled to Yemen, President Obama and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown have approved steps to send more anti-terrorism aid to the country.
A joint US-UK project will finance a counter-terrorism police force in Yemen, where the trans-Atlantic allies have been directing resources to fight Al Qaeda for "quite some time," Brown told the BBC yesterday.
Drones have been used heavily over the past year against Taliban and Al Qaeda in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Obama administration has authorized 50 drone strikes in the past year, killing several hundred people - including top Al Qaeda leadership - compared to 36 drone strikes in 2008, Wired reports.
An expanded drone war over Yemen could further inflame a proxy war between Saudi Arabia - which backs the Yemeni government - and Iran, sponsor of rebels fighting an insurgency in Yemen, according to Foreign Policy analyst David Kenner.
Comments
Muslim murderers love using planes in conducting terrorist acts so it's only fitting that they are being terrorized by the awe-inspiring drones. Keep it up!
Look up Muslim murderers, death is coming from beyond the clouds!
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