US 'concerned' over Qaeda attacks in Yemen: Pentagon

March 5, 2012

WASHINGTON: The United States is "very concerned" about the latest assault by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen but does not believe the government's survival is in jeopardy, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

In one of the single deadliest attacks against Yemeni forces, more than 100 government soldiers have been killed in fighting after suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen attacked military posts in Yemen's south on Sunday, medical officials in Yemen said.

"We view Yemen as a very important partner on counter-terrorism efforts and we're also very concerned about the clashes that have taken place there, to include AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) advances in certain parts in the country," press secretary George Little told reporters, referring to Al-Qaeda's branch in the region.

It was vital to maintain military pressure on the Al-Qaeda network in Yemen, he said.

"AQAP is a group that has targeted the Yemeni government and Yemeni civilians for quite a long time and it's important we keep up the pressure on them," he said.

But Little said that the Yemeni government has long faced a challenge from the Al-Qaeda network and that its hold on power was not under serious threat.

"I think it's important to put this into some context. The Yemeni government has faced challenges in certain parts of the country for some time so I wouldn't necessarily read anything at this point into the stability of the Yemeni government," he said.

"We're going to continue to work with them," he said.

US officials are closely watching events in Yemen after Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down last week after 33 years as president. The new president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, pledged to destroy the Al-Qaeda militant group in last month's inauguration speech.

Yemen's local Al-Qaeda branch, the self-proclaimed Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), has exploited the decline in central government control that accompanied anti-Saleh protests that eventually forced him to cede power.

In recent years, the US Defense Department has provided hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of equipment and training designed to help Yemen's special forces counter Al-Qaeda, including aircraft, helicopters with night-vision cameras, sniper rifles, secure radios and bullet-proof jackets, according to the Congressional Research Service, a research arm of the US Congress. (AFP)