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SAN'A, Yemen – Yemen's military hit suspected al-Qaida hideouts Thursday and targeted a gathering of top militant leaders, possibly killing a radical cleric linked to the U.S. Army major accused of the Fort Hood mass shooting, in strikes carried out with U.S. intelligence help, officials said. At least 30 militants were believed to be killed in the second such strike in a week. Pentagon officials could not confirm Thursday whether U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was killed in the strike. Al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, before moving in 2002 to...

Raw video of scene on the ground inside al-Qaeda operational and training center in Yemen, blasted to smithereens by US and Yemeni forces in the last number of hours. (LINK)al-Jazeera video of al-Qaeda leader (unmasked) giving a rabid speech in response regarding the ramping up of the obliteration of a number of key al-Qaeda in Yemen, including the former Northern Virginia radical Islamist cleric "spiritual" handler of Major Nidal Hasan, Anwar al-Alauqi (apparantly)(LINK)

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched an attack Thursday on a meeting of al-Qaeda operatives where a Yemeni American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in the Fort Hood attacks might have been present, U.S. and Yemeni officials said. The strike on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen killed at least 30 suspected militants and was the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. One of the possible meeting participants was Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen and extremist preacher who exchanged e-mails with the Army psychiatrist suspected...

Yemeni authorities announced an air strike against a meeting of senior Qaeda officials on Thursday morning and raised the possibility that a radical cleric tied to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings was among those killed. A statement by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said the strike targeted a gathering of “scores” of Qaeda operatives from Yemen and other countries held in a remote corner southern Yemen, and said the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, was “presumed” to have been present. It could take days for investigators to sift through the rubble to identify the dead, and intelligence officials in the...

Anwar Al-'Awlaki, al Qaeda linked Muslim Cleric on his contact with the Fort Hood Terrorist Major Hasan: "Naturally, as I told you, the first message was asking for an edict regarding the [possibility] of a Muslim soldier killing his colleagues who serve with him in the American army. In other messages, Nidal was clarifying his position regarding the killing of Israeli civilians. He was in support of this, and in his messages he mentioned the religious justifications for targeting the Jews with missiles. Then there were some messages in which he asked for a way through which he could transfer...

Yemeni forces killed at least 30 suspected militants in an air strike early Thursday on an alleged al-Qaeda hide-out in southeastern Yemen, the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. The dead may include Anwar al-Aulaqi, the extremist Yemeni-American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in last month's deadly Fort Hood attack, a Yemeni government official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the apparent target of the strike was Aulaqi's house, where al-Qaeda leaders were believed to have gathered. It was unknown whether Aulaqi was present at the meeting and,...

The radical Muslim imam linked to the rampage at Fort Hood is believed to have been killed in a Yemen airstrike that may have also taken out the region's top Al Qaeda leader and 30 other militants, a security official told Reuters on Thursday. The raid in Yemen's east targeted an Al Qaeda leadership meeting held to organize terror attacks. It is believed to have killed Anwar al-Awlaki and at least two senior members in the organization, including the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

mam tied to Fort Hood shooter "killed" in Yemen raid Thu Dec 24, 3:39 am ET SANAA (Reuters) – A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is believed to have died in a Yemen airstrike on al Qaeda militants, a security official said on Thursday. "Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid)," said the Yemeni official, who asked not to be identified. Yemen said 30 militants were killed in the strike in the eastern province of Shabwa.

The secretive U.S. air strike against suspected al-Qaida in Yemen last week is the latest in what has been a fast-growing campaign to better equip and fund Yemeni forces so they can eliminate the expanding al-Qaida safe havens there. The Pentagon has poured nearly $70 million in military aid to Yemen this year, a massive financial infusion compared to nothing in 2008. Much like the effort with Pakistan's Frontier Corps, the military has boosted its counterterrorism training for Yemeni forces, and is providing more intelligence, which probably includes surveillance by unmanned drones, according to U.S.. officials and analysts. The heightened...

Infiltrators given 48-hr ultimatum By Abdul Aziz Al-Rubei’i Major military operations in Jizan are ‘over’ SAUDI-YEMEN BORDER – Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation, said Tuesday that “all major military operations on the border are over.” Prince Khaled said that “only individual efforts carried out by sole infiltrators remain, and they are being dealt with immediately.” Prince Khaled issued a stern warning for an unstated number of infiltrators shored up in the village of Al-Jaberi. “The village will be destroyed over their heads if they do not surrender in 48 hours,” a deadline...

To watch the video, you have to click on the link to NRB. Despite his earlier rhetoric about ending the conflicts initiated by George W. Bush, and just a couple of weeks after collecting his Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama gave the order for a military strike which was carried out against al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen yesterday, in a major escalation of his administration’s campaign against that group. This according to a report by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman. What the President is coming to realize after being in office for nearly a year, is that Islamic terrorists view him...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASES Sunday, December 20, 2009 United States Transfers 12 Guantanamo Bay Detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland Region Twelve detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including potential threat, mitigation measures and the likelihood of success in habeas litigation, the detainees were...

While you were busy with holiday preparations and screaming in horror as the Politburo met behind close doors to wreck the health care system; Obama quietly returned twelve Gitmo detainees to their homelands. “The US has transferred 12 detainees from its Guantanamo Bay prison camp to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region, the Justice Department says. Six Yemenis, four Afghans and two Somali detainees were sent to their homelands over the weekend, it said. President Barack Obama acknowledged in November that he would miss his January deadline to close down the camp. The US plans to send 116 detainees to...

SAUDI-YEMEN BORDER – Saudi forces carried out strikes on 30 armed infiltrators attempting to take areas of Ka’ab Jaber Mountain to the north of Mt. Dokhan at dawn on Sunday. Sources at the front lines said that ground artillery supported by air strikes killed possible infiltrators who were attempting to penetrate a valley leading to areas where the Saudi military was present. The sources said that Saudi forces and paratroopers were continuing their advancement to pursue infiltrators who have reportedly suffered “heavy” losses and have had their supply lines cut off, all of which has led to a “drop in...

Of course you may have noticed that our media did not report this cruise-missile strike. US Airstrikes in Yemen a Tactical and Strategic Failure The US launched two preemptive missile strikes in Yemen according to two US officials quoted by ABC News. One strike was north of Sana'a in Arhab. The other in the southern province of Abyan. The main al Qaeda target, Qasim al Reimi, predictably slipped away at the last minute from the Arhab raid. Two previously surrendered al Qaeda were captured, and likely will be released once the heat is off. In total, four were killed and...

On orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles early Thursday against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen, administration officials told ABC News in a report broadcast on ABC World News with Charles Gibson. Share ABC's Brian Ross details missile strike on al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan. One of the targeted sites was a suspected al Qaeda training camp north of the capitol, Sanaa, and the second target was a location where officials said "an imminent attack against a U.S. asset was being planned." The Yemen attacks by the U.S. military represent a major escalation of the Obama...

President Obama's scramble to close Guantanamo is picking up speed as his arbitrary one-year deadline approaches, with Yemen and Illinois as the latest detainee destinations. Neither decision will enhance U.S. security. The government of Yemen announced yesterday that it will take six detainees, and more could follow if this transfer goes smoothly. Yemenis account for 97 of the 210 men still left at Gitmo, and 34 have been cleared for release. The problem is that Yemen is emerging as one of the world's sanctuaries for al Qaeda, and its government has essentially run a nonaggression pact with the terrorists.

The US military carried out cruise missile attacks against two al Qaeda camps in Yemen, killing several terrorist commanders and fighters as well as civilians. The attacks, which took place on Dec. 17, were carried out in conjunction with the Yemeni military, who targeted al Qaeda bases in the provinces of Sana'a and Abyan. The Yemeni government and the US launched the raids after intelligence indicated that al Qaeda was planning to conduct attacks against Yemeni and US installations in the region. Abyan is a known al Qaeda haven. The terror group opened a large training camp in Yemen this...

Saudi Arabia, amid heavy fighting with Shi'ite rebels, has begun erecting another security fence along its border with Yemen. Saudi military sources said the Defense Ministry has overseen a fast-track project to construct a barbed wire fence along most of the 1,600-kilometer border with Yemen. The sources said the project reflected an urgent requirement for a physical barrier to block the flow of thousands of Shi'ite rebels and their supporters from Yemen to the Saudi kingdom. "The infiltration has reached massive proportions," a Saudi source said. "Thousands are crossing into the kingdom."

While Obama has US troops fighting with one hand tied behind their back, he took the gloves off today and ordered strikes in Yemen. Must be to help his Saudi buddies out. NBC: U.S. fired on al-Qaida targets in Yemen Warships launched missiles on Obama’s order in joint operation with ally

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 Obama administration is planning to repatriate six Yemenis held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter. The release is a significant first step toward dealing with the largest group of detainees at the prison -- there are currently 97 Yemenis there -- and toward meeting President Obama's goal of closing the facility. But Yemen's security problems and lack of resources have spawned fears about its ability to monitor and rehabilitate returnees. Critics...

The 30th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Kuwait this week, expressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its fight with the Shi'ite Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. The Kuwaiti emir noted that Saudi Arabia is facing "flagrant aggression that targets its sovereignty and security by those who have infiltrated its territory." The formerly little-noticed conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government is now taking on the coloration of an additional hot front in an ongoing region-wide cold war. The conflict in northern Yemen reveals the ongoing Iranian regional effort to convert Shi'ite populations into assets...

The war against Iranian supported, Shia tribesmen, in northern Yemen, continues. Many of the key rebels have retreated to their fortified villages in the mountains. The Yemeni air force is bombing these villages, and the Shia rebels are complaining about civilian casualties. That's usually a sign that they are losing, and striving to make their use of human shields as effective as possible. The Saudi Air Force is heavily patrolling, and bombing the Yemen border region, hitting rebels (and non-hostile smugglers) caught crossing the semi-desert frontier region. Yemen has had its differences with Saudi Arabia in the past, particularly over...

Explosive ramifications result from new evidence revealing the Muslim holy book has undergone a textual evolution Frontpage Interview’s guests today are Robert Spencer and Moorthy Muthuswamy. Moorthy Muthuswamy is an expert on terrorism in India. He grew up in India, where he had firsthand experience with political Islam and jihad. He moved to America in 1984 to pursue graduate studies. In 1992, he received a doctorate in nuclear physics from Stony Brook University, New York. Since 1999 he has extensively published ideas on neutralizing political Islam’s terror war as it is imposed on unbelievers. He is the author of the...

Video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erk22YkMybA Saudi Arabia uses fighter jets against Yemeni Houthi rebels. Both Yemen & Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of arming the rebels. Why did Arab satellites carriers drop Iranian Al Alam TV? And will the war of proxies lead to a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran ?

Off the Yemen coast, Saudi warships recently destroyed two boats that were attempting to smuggle weapons to Shia Yemeni rebels along the Saudi-Yemen border. The two boats refused to halt when ordered to, and attempted to flee. Saudi patrol boats and helicopters fired on the two boats, which exploded, indicating they were carrying munitions and explosives, along with weapons. The crews of the two boats were killed in the explosions. For nearly a month now, Saudi Arabian warships have been maintaining a blockade on Yemen's Red Sea coast, to prevent Iranian arms smugglers from getting weapons to the Shia rebels...

US special forces have been sent to Yemen to train its army amid fears the unstable Arab state is becoming a strategically important base for al-Qaeda.

A senior official from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has recently met with Houthi rebels and Hizbullah activists in Yemen to coordinate joint military operations against Saudi positions along the border. Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, quoted on Sunday Arab sources as saying the three-way meeting also aimed at developing a plan to escalate the military situation along the Saudi-Yemeni border.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that he expects "significant" new sanctions" to be imposed on Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. "I think that you are going to see some significant additional sanctions imposed by the international community, assuming that the Iranians don't change course and agree to do the things they agreed to at the beginning of October," Gates told a group of US soldiers in Kirkuk, Iraq. Gates arrived in Iraq on a suprise visit on Thursday, following a trip to Afghanistan where Washington is ramping up its military commitment. [...]

An Iranian hospital in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa has been ordered shut down amid reports that the facility was used as cover by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security for support and funding of Shi'ite Zaydi rebels. The 60-bed hospital has four operating rooms and six intensive care units. The ostensible reason for the closing was the hospital’s failure to pay rent. However reports from Sanaa say it was due to the illicit Iranian intelligence activities from the facility.

Breaking News: Pakistan Reportedly Detains Five D.C.-Area Muslims on Suspicion of Terror IPT News December 8, 2009 **Updated December 9, 9:00 a.m. EST A Pakistani newspaper reports the arrest of five foreign nationals after a raid in a town called Sargodha. The raid took place at the home of a member of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistani movement designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2001. According to the report, "The DPO told that these people had been living in Sargodha since Nov 30 and it was quite a possibility that they were engaged in acts of...

The president's new mosque shimmers over this ancient city like an illusion of stability against images of MiG fighter jets screeching overhead toward rebellion in the north or the latest news of pirates seizing ships in the treacherous Gulf of Aden.

Houthi fighters have reportedly shot down a Yemeni army aircraft as it sought to tighten the noose around Shia fighters and pound their positions in the northern province of Amran.

SNIPPET: "Al-Qaida's network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) has released the audio-recorded wills of two mujahideen operatives who were recently "martyred" in clashes with local security forces -- including former Guantanamo Bay detainee #114 Yusuf Muhammad Mubarak al-Jebairy al-Shehri. The younger brother of a senior Al-Qaida member, al-Shehri first left his home in Saudi Arabia in mid-2001 in order to wage jihad alongside the Taliban because he "thought that participating in jihad with the Taliban was the right thing to do... the Taliban were good Muslims.” In the midst of fleeing the crumbling Taliban frontline in late 2001, Yusuf al-Shehri...

The United States and its international partners must "use all appropriate measures" to keep Yemen from becoming a "failed state," the US Senate said in a recently approved resolution.

Note: Photo included. Al Mazraq Refugee Camp, Yemen Filed under: Saada War, Saudi Arabia, USA — by Jane Novak at 10:10 pm on Saturday, December 5, 2009 This 15 month old toddler is in the al Mazraq refugee camp, or was. The child may be dead by now. The UN is struggling to save hundreds of children like this one from dying of malnutrition in the Yemeni refugee camps. But due to lack of funding and lack of access, they are really struggling. Tens of thousands of children are outside the camps and beyond the reach of food aid, as...

Jordan has sent several hundred troops from its special operations forces to help the Saudi military with its many Shi'ite units contain the Yemeni Shi'ite rebellion, which has spread deep into the Arab kingdom.

SNIPPET: "AUSTRALIA'S most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte will be free from jail next year having served less than half his sentence for conspiring to blow up the nation's only nuclear reactor and the power grid. The Caribbean-born Muslim convert made headlines in 2007 when he was sentenced in France to a maximum nine years, following his arrest in Sydney, for joining an al-Qaida-backed Pakistani terror cell out to bomb Lucas Heights nuclear plant, the national electricity grid or a military base. The French Justice Ministry is considering releasing the 41-year-old, on an early-release good-behaviour plan."

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "A former Guantanamo detainee has emerged as a leading ideologue and theologian for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – one of the strongest al Qaeda affiliates in the world. Ibrahim Suleiman al Rubaish was captured by Pakistani authorities in late 2001 and then handed over to American officials who transferred him to Guantanamo. Rubaish was held there until Dec. 13, 2006, when he was transferred to Saudi Arabia and placed in the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists. At some point, Rubaish escaped from Saudi Arabia by fleeing south to Yemen. In February 2009, the Saudi...

DEN, Yemen, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Yemeni security forces spread out across the southern port city of Aden on Monday, clamping down on any display of secessionist sentiment on the anniversary of the south's independence from Britain.

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Al-Qaeda imam emailing Ft Hood killer was repeatedly arrested for soliciting prostitutes I was reading some background info on Anwar Al-Aulaqi, the Yemeni-American Al-Qaeda cleric that was corresponding with Ft Hood killer Maj. Nidal Hasan, and remembered something curious I saw several years ago. It took me a while to track it down, but a 2004 article in US News and World Report on Al-Aulaqi provided this curious tidbit about the "imam": The probe of the 9/11 attacks soon led Washington FBI agents back to San Diego, where they found that al-Awlaki...

Yemen closes Iran hospital, clinic in Sanaa (AFP) – 16 hours ago SANAA — Yemen said on Wednesday it has ordered the closure of the Iranian hospital and clinic in Sanaa due to what it said was Iran's support of the facilities and lack of transparency in their accounts. Both facilities are run by the Iranian Red Crescent. "The interior ministry has decided to close the Iranian clinic and hospital because of lack of transparency of their accounts and... Iranian financial support to these two institutions," said a ministry statement. Yemeni security forces had on October 13 sealed off the...

Note: The following text is a quote: IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 917-09 November 20, 2009 DOD Announces Military Commissions Actions Today, prosecutors in the Office of Military Commissions announced they intend to ask the convening authority to refer new charges under the recently-enacted Military Commissions Act of 2009 against Abd al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu al-Nashiri, in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000. The bombing resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors and injuries to many more. This announcement follows the attorney general's determination on Nov. 13, 2009, that a military...

The Yemeni-American imam who's been under renewed scrutiny after the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, preaches against alcohol, birthday parties, black magic and extramarital sex. He also supports armed struggle — jihad — against the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has encouraged extremist insurgents in Pakistan and Somalia. None of that sets Anwar al Awlaki, 38, apart from other militant Sunni Muslim clerics — and even many mainstream ones — in the Middle East. Awlaki uses digital means to spread his views, however, through a blog, lectures on YouTube and Facebook pages with more than 1,000 fans....

United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.

The al-Houthi tribe is involved in local uprisings in Yemen, attempts by Al-Qaida and Iran to ignite the Middle East, and power struggles between Saudi princes. They may yet destroy Yemeni unification. "The instructions we received from the king were not to act inside another state's territory, but we will not let anyone enter our territory." This is how the Saudi deputy defense minister, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, described the battle that has been going on since last week between Saudi forces and the Yemeni Shi'ite rebels of the al-Houthi tribe. [snip] Due to the lack of supervision by the...

Saudi Arabian troops and aircraft are now enforcing a ten kilometer deep "kill zone" on the Yemen side of their Yemen border. This is the first combat operation for Saudi forces since 1991 (during the liberation of Kuwait.) This is in support of a four month war between rebel Shia tribesmen and the Yemeni armed forces. Since November 5th, Saudi fighter bombers have flown over a hundred sorties against rebel targets just across the border. Hundreds of smart bombs and missiles have been used. Saudi artillery has fired hundreds of shells at the rebels, and Saudi helicopters and infantry now...

Security Forces Pursuing Mastermind of Texas Attack Yemen Post Staff Yemeni security forces are currently pursuing cleric, Anwar Al-Aulaqi, who allegedly had links to N(i)dal Hassan who carried out the deadly attack in the port of Fort Hood army base, opposition media reported.Reports have revealed that there were links between the two men where Hassan was frequently visited a mosque in the state of Virginia, in which imam Al-Aulaqi was leading prayers. It is reported that the Yemeni authorities had arrested Al-Aulaqi in 2006, on suspicion of holding up religious militants to kidnapping foreigners, but he was released due...

SNIPPET: "Muthana is facing five counts of second-degree assault, DWI and reckless driving. He is accused of injuring six people. They are 21-year-old Dominick Nicholson, 20-year-old Tyrese Beard, 40-year-old James Pross, 50-year-old Debra Hollis, 25-year-old Luis Cruz and 49-year-old Diane Neil. All are Rochester residents." SNIPPET: "In his statement to police, he said he drank six cans of Budweiser in an hour. Then he started using swear words, cussing police and government. He said, "Ben Franklin was stupid. He should have made it so you *expletives* can't swerve the law. The Muslims will fix this country." When bail was being...