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NEWS ABOUT: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

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Clinton: We Hacked Yemeni al-Qaeda Sites

Terror boasts were replaced with info on civilian deaths

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda has issued a call for "electronic jihad," but it looks like the terror group has been outgunned by State Department experts. Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Special Operations Command gala dinner last night, said that American specialists had hacked into al-Qaeda sites in Yemen that "bragged... More »

Bomb-Plot Busting Double-Agent Is British

CIA not happy about this leak

(Newser) - Another tantalizing—and potentially damaging—tidbit has leaked about the double-agent who foiled an al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula underwear bomb plot. The agent is of Saudi descent but lived for years in Britain, where he spent some time with jihadist sympathizers and acquired a British passport, sources tell CNN... More »

Officials Watching for 'Body Bombs' on Planes

Threat of surgically implanted bombs is real: officials

(Newser) - As the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden looms, security for US-bound flights has been stepped up around the world. While authorities say that there is no specific information of an impending attack timed for the anniversary, one threat that officials are watching for is "body... More »

Gutted al-Qaeda Incapable of Another 9/11: Experts

Core 'essentially gone,' but spinoff groups a concern

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda today is mostly a spent force, unable to carry out another 9/11-style attack, said US intelligence officials yesterday, reports Reuters . The mostly anonymous assessment—in a conference call led by Robert Cardillo, deputy director of US national intelligence—came one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden , with... More »

CIA Wants Green Light to Bomb Yemen at Will

Asks for OK to launch strikes even if it's not sure who will be killed

(Newser) - CIA Director David Petraeus has requested permission to launch drone strikes in Yemen even when the agency is not sure who the strikes might kill. Instead, the CIA would launch attacks based on patterns of suspicious activity, much the way it does in Pakistan, a tactic known as "signature... More »

Iran Willing to Attack US: Report

Director of National Intelligence thinks Iran is 'plotting against US interests'

(Newser) - Iran no longer appears to have any reservations about launching attacks on US soil, National Intelligence Director James Clapper said in Senate testimony today. The new assessment is based in part on Iran's alleged attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US. The incident "shows that some... More »

Saleh Staying Put in Yemen

President's party claims the country needs him

(Newser) - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has backed out of a plan to travel to the US for medical treatment . The official line is that Saleh was persuaded to stay by his party, which told him that his strife-torn country needed him, the New York Times reports. Saleh, after months... More »

Al-Qaeda Militants Escape Yemen Prison

Anywhere from 10 to 15 flee Aden prison

(Newser) - Just months after almost 60 suspected al-Qaeda militants escaped from a Yemen jail , another 10 to 15 militants broke out of another Yemen prison early today. The convicts fled through a tunnel as long as 130 feet that took them under the Aden prison and dropped them off outside the... More »

Obama Mulls Release of Awlaki Memo

As al-Qaeda chides US for contradicting its own values

(Newser) - The Obama administration is currently debating whether to release a legal memo outlining its rationale for assassinating American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki without a trial. Some argue the disclosure could quiet questions about the killing, sources tell CNN , while others say the memo is too sensitive, since it refers to a... More »

US, Yemen at Odds Over Counterterror Strategy

US doesn't want to get involved in a Yemen civil war

(Newser) - The US and Yemen shared a counterterrorism victory with the death of Anwar al-Awlaki , but behind the scenes, relations are growing tense. Yemen complains the US isn’t helping fight al-Qaeda-affiliated militants within its borders, while the US has publicly called for Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster, and is wary... More »

Secret Panel Placed Awlaki on Kill List

No records, no laws for National Security Council subset

(Newser) - This is sure to ramp up the debate over whether the US was right to kill one of its own citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki: Reuters reports that a secretive panel places militants like him on a kill or capture list, and that there are no public records of the panel's... More »

Was US Right to Kill One of Its Own Citizens?

Bloggers disagree on killing of Anwar al-Awlaki

(Newser) - The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki has set off a spirited debate on one key point—the US just killed one of its own citizens. (In fact, it killed two .) A sampling:
  • Out of line: Glenn Greenwald at Salon is outraged. Whatever happened to due process, a right that citizen
... More »

Awlaki's Death May Mean Little in Yemen

But in the US, he was among top terror targets

(Newser) - While the US will see the death of Anwar al-Awlaki as a key victory against al-Qaeda, those in Yemen are more likely to shrug their shoulders at the news—and it’s “debatable” whether the killing will have much impact on al-Qaeda’s operations, writes Dan Murphy in the... More »

Another American Killed in Strike on Anwar al-Awlaki

Editor of 'Inspire' magazine killed as well

(Newser) - Anwar al-Awlaki wasn't the only American jihadist killed in a drone attack today . The airstrike also killed Samir Khan , a 20-something of Pakistani descent from North Carolina, Yemen's Defense Ministry tells the AP . Khan was the creator of "Inspire," al-Qaeda's English-language online magazine . In its... More »

US-Born al-Qaeda Leader Awlaki Killed in Yemen

Cleric is dead after drone airstrike

(Newser) - American-born al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed by an airstrike in eastern Yemen, according to Yemeni and US officials. The radical preacher, a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been a most-wanted terror suspect for years. He is the biggest target to go down since Osama... More »

US Expanding African Drone Network

New bases to target Islamic militants, pirates

(Newser) - The Obama administration is creating an expanded network of drone bases in Africa, which officials say will help the US target Islamic militants in Somalia and Yemen. A new drone base is being built in Ethiopia, and the US is already deploying drones over Somalia and Yemen from its base... More »

Al-Qaeda Trying to Make Ricin Bombs for US Attacks

Yemen affiliate said to be loading up on castor beans to make the toxin

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden is gone and the main branch of al-Qaeda might be reeling, but its affiliates remain bent on attacking the US, reports the New York Times . Citing classified intelligence reports, it says the Yemen branch known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is hoarding castor beans to turn... More »

Al-Qaeda Cartoon In the Works

AQAP animation no biggie, experts say

(Newser) - Islamic extremists are working on an animated movie to attract junior jihadis to the cause, monitors of militant websites say. The al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula cartoon will depict raids, armed engagements and assassinations, and offer "an alternative to the poison that is broadcast by other TV channels to... More »

Zawahiri's al-Qaeda to Focus Outside US

He is expected to go after American and Western targets overseas

(Newser) - Now that Ayman al-Zawahiri is in charge of al-Qaeda, the group is likely to shift its focus away from attacks on US soil and toward much easier hits on US targets overseas, US officials and experts tell the Wall Street Journal . “I would not be surprised to see potentially... More »

CIA Launching Yemen Drone Strikes

Program modeled after Pakistan strikes

(Newser) - The CIA will soon begin launching drone strikes against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, where months of unrest have left the political landscape in chaos. The CIA strikes will expand upon those carried out in the country by the US military since 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the Yemeni... More »

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