Yemeni forces have
arrested a cell of Al-Qaeda operatives suspected of carrying out a suicide
bombing in Sanaa in May that killed more than 100 troops, a security official
was quoted as saying Thursday.
"Security forces have captured (members of) the terrorist cell
behind the attack on Sabeen Square," national security chief, Ali Mohammed
al-Ansi, was quoted as saying by 26 September, a daily owned and published by
the ministry of defence.
He was referring to the
location of the May 21 bombing in Sanaa that targeted troops rehearsing for a
military parade. Ansi gave no further details about the arrest.
On June 20, security
forces had announced the arrest of Majed al-Qulaisi, a member of the Al-Qaeda
cell that planned the deadly suicide attack.
Al-Ansi vowed to
continue the "hunt" for Al-Qaeda fighters, saying security forces
have carried out a "series of operations against Al-Qaeda terrorists"
across Yemen.
Last week, Yemeni troops
took control of the southeastern town of Azzan, the last Al-Qaeda bastion in
Yemen's troubled southern and eastern provinces where the militants had
established total control.
Al-Qaeda had declared an
Islamic emirate in the desert town where hundreds of fighters were believed to
have sought refuge after fleeing their strongholds in nearby Abyan province.
Taking advantage of a
weakening central government control by an Arab Spring-inspired uprising last
year, the militants had overrun most of Abyan, capturing its capital Zinjibar,
towns like Jaar, Shuqra and several other villages.
On May 12, Yemen's
military launched an all-out offensive to recapture the province.
The army and local
militiamen claim to have succeeded in taking over all of Abyan's towns except
for Mahfad where jihadists still have a strong presence.
