Yemeni soldiers are preparing to flush out al-Qaeda members Sanaa – Ali Rabea The Yemeni Parliament has questioned the country’s Interior Minister over “the issue of security chaos” after a spate of assassinations of military intelligence officers. Politicians expressed concerns over Major General Abdul Kadir Qahtan’s ability to deal with the “growing series of assassinations targeting military intelligence officers” by Al-Qaeda elements in Yemen.
The assembled Parliament demanded “explanations of the ongoing killings.” MPs meanwhile withdrew their confidence in Defence Minister General Nasser Ahmed after he missed the legislative session, in what they called “an attempt to evade the questions of MPs.”
Al-Qaeda’s trail of violence continues to rock Yemen. On Wednesday the country’s prosecution referred 16 suspected Al-Qaeda militants to courts on charges of terrorism, including 10 suspects accused of the May 21 suicide bombing which targeted Yemeni Army soldier in downtown Sanaa, resulting in the deaths of nearly 100 soldiers and injuring 300 others.
\"The prosecutor\'s office finished its investigation into the bombing targeting the Central Security forces in Saba\'een square in May,”  judicial sources told Arabstoday on Wednesday, adding that it \"referred the case along with 10 Al-Qaeda militants on charges of forming armed gangs and plotting to kill dozens of government forces.\"
Sources also pointed out that prosecutors referred six other Al-Qaeda suspects from two separate incidents, including a bombing on an Antonov military transport plane last year and the creation of an alleged terrorist cell used to target military and security installations inside Yemen. “The defendants were caught in August in the capital Sanaa with the possession of critical documents, a computer and Kalashnikov machine-guns,” prosecutors said.