SANAA, 17 September 2006 — Yemeni security forces arrested four members of an Al-Qaeda cell in the capital Sanaa yesterday, Interior Minister Rashad Al-Alimi said, a day after security forces foiled twin suicide bombings of oil installations.
The minister told a press conference in Sanaa that anti-terrorist forces raided a safe house in the capital and arrested the four men and seized a large cache of arms and explosives. “Twelve sacks of explosives, each one containing 30 to 50 kilograms of highly explosive material, hand grenades and firearms were seized in the raid,” Al-Alimi said.
The minister linked the cell to Friday’s car-bomb attacks on two oil facilities in eastern Yemen. “Our preliminary investigations showed that this cell has connections with the Al-Qaeda organization and has links with yesterday’s (Friday) attacks in Marib and Hadhramout,” the minister said.
He said the arrests were made early yesterday after a seven-hour operation, during which security forces and the suspects exchanged fire. No one was hurt. The minister said the four arrested men were planning to strike targets in Sanaa, but he refused to give any details about those targets.
On Friday, four attackers and one security guard died after bombers drove four cars in two attempted suicide attacks at two oil facilities in eastern Yemen.
The four pick-up cars went off inside the two facilities in the southeastern province of Hadhramout and the northeastern province of Marib.
The ministry condemned the attempted bombings in a statement describing them as “terrorist attacks targeting the security and economy” of Yemen. Such attacks “would not deter the country from efforts to fight terrorism and the terrorist element,” the statement said.
A top security official in Marib said on Friday that “the attack bears the blueprint of al-Qaeda.”
“No one other than Al-Qadea could do this. They are undoubtedly Al-Qaeda terrorists,” said the official, who declined to be identified.
