Yemeni authorities are cracking down on al-Qaeda in Aden Yemeni authorities arrested two armed affiliates of extremist organisation al-Qaeda on Thursday in Sheikh Othman city, Aden. The two members were allegedly planning terrorist operations against vital military and civil targets. They were detained during a security crackdown on a suspected house, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the security forces prevented a bomb from exploding in during demonstrations in Sanaa demanding secession from the north of Yemen.
Local sources told Arab Today that hundreds organised a rally against the National Dialogue Conference currently being held in Sana. The activist demand separation from the central government of Sanaa.
The sources did not confirm the reports of a bomb targeting the event. Observers suggest the threat was a rumour aimed at intimidating the protesters.
A large faction of the Yemeni opposition led by former Vice President Ali Salem al-Beidh refuses to take part in the national dialogue. They expressed their insistence on achieving separation from the north despite the efforts exerted by the United Nations and the Gulf States to convince them to join the talks.
Yemen’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the authorities managed to arrest one of the defendants accused of attacking the energy lines. Engineers re yet to return power to Sanaa and a number other Yemeni cities.