Free Republic

The death toll of multiple U.S. drone strikes launched on Sunday against training camps of al- Qaida militants in Yemen's southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa has risen to 55, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said on Monday. Three local leaders were among the 55 dead militants, the ministry said in a brief statement on its website. It said that its security services are working to identify the nationalities of foreign fighters who were killed among al-Qaida militants in the airstrikes. The ministry described the air strikes as the strongest assault launched against the militants since 2012, when the army retook...

The U.S. has launched two missile strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Yemen, two U.S. officials told Fox News, signaling an escalation of the Obama administration's fight against the terrorist organization. The politically sensitive strikes Thursday, first reported by ABC News, supplement efforts already under way by the government of Yemen to go after Al Qaeda in the country, the officials told Fox News, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation. Such an operation is particularly sensitive in Yemen. "It's very difficult for Yemen to ask the U.S. for help given the nature of their...

The leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Nasser Al-Wuhaishi declared on Wednesday his support for what he called "the rejection of oppression", referring to the protests which have been taking place since April in the southern cities. At least eight Yemenis, including four soldiers, have been killed in a week of unrest in Abyan, Lahj and Aldhala'a, where witnessed clashes between the government and groups of locals who complained that northerners have abused a unity agreement to grab their resources and discriminate against them, and raised slogans call for separating their governorates from Yemen, which was united in 1990....