Britain, US eye Yemen as next target

May 10, 2011

The British Prime Minister has offered the US government his country's SAS anti-terrorists units to get involved in hunting down prominent terrorists anywhere in the world.

David Cameron, who is apparently overjoyed by the claimed killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden at the hands of US special troops, has agreed that the elite British troops be deployed beyond Afghanistan in order to assassinate al-Qaeda commanders.

This is while that Britain already has counter-terrorist teams located in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan and in Yemen, where they are responsible for training indigenous troops in counter-insurgency, counter-IED and counter-intelligence techniques.

According to defence sources, Britain and the US have clinched agreement to expand their operations beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan and into Yemeni territories.

The hunt for prominent terrorists, such as Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and Mullah Omar, the former Taliban leader, would continue in and around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region as well, defence sources said.

A senior officer warned that despite the death of al-Qaeda's leader, the terrorist organisation will still remain a potent threat for years to come.

"Al-Qaeda has lost momentum, and the death of bin Laden will only make it more difficult for the organisation to conduct attacks. It will hard for al-Qaeda to find another iconic figure but despite this we should avoid talk of 'winning'”, he said.

"This is a useful military event which should be used to help deter the threat. It demonstrates the reach and persistence of the US government to achieve justice. But, overall, I believe this is a case of 'situation, no change'. This was a significant event during a long campaign", added the unnamed officer.