Word: yemenis
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...region sent hundreds of fighters to the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan and - to judge by the number of captured, killed and identified insurgents in Iraq - continues to be one of the biggest suppliers of fighters to regional conflicts. It is common knowledge in the tearooms of the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and in Western embassies that the government of northern Yemen used jihadis to help defeat the south in the civil war that ended in 1994. But the symbiotic relationship between the government and al-Qaeda shifted after 9/11 and the American invasion of Iraq, when...
...Yemen connection: For several years, counterterrorism officials have said that al-Qaeda has been looking to consolidate and expand its base in the country of Osama bin Laden's ancestors. Yemeni authorities, prodded by Washington, have recently mounted an operation to wipe out the terrorist havens - including a missile strike this week that, officials in the Yemeni capital Sanaa say, killed 30 top al-Qaeda operatives. But if Abdulmutallab's plot did indeed originate in Yemen, then it would suggest that much more remains to be done. (See how al-Qaeda is creating a crisis in Yemen...
...officials are awaiting confirmation that a Yemeni air strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American cleric who exchanged email messages with the alleged Fort Hood Shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan. Counterterrorism officials and experts have differing views on Awlaki's importance to the wider jihadist cause. "The death of Awlaki would deprive al-Qaeda of a prominent face, a prominent voice, and someone who'd gotten involved in operations," says one counterterrorism official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to discuss the air strike with the media...
Initial reports that the airstrike may have been the work of the CIA seem to have been mistaken: Yemeni authorities say it was their jets that conducted the dawn operation, in the province of Shabwa, 400 miles south of the capital Sana'a. In a statement, the Yemeni embassy in Washington D.C. said the strike targeted a meeting of "scores of Yemeni and foreign Al Qaeda operatives." The meeting had been called to discuss retaliation for government raids in mid-December on al-Qaeda hideouts in Abyan and Sana'a provinces...
Last week's attacks may mean that change is indeed on the horizon. But if the Yemeni backlash to the attacks are any indication, cruise missiles and firepower may not be the support Yemen needs...