With four Al-Qaeda militants being killed in an American drone strike in Yemen and continuing fears of a major jihadi attack, the United States has asked its citizens to leave the country immediately and ordered evacuation of its embassy in Sanaa.
The latest State Department directive follows intercepted messages between Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to operatives in Yemen, asking them to “do something”. None of the militants killed on Tuesday were among the 25 names on the country’s most-wanted list, CNN quoted security officials as saying. It is now being revealed that the US decision to shut down over 20 of its embassies, mostly in the Middle-East and North Africa, and issue a global travel alert to its citizens followed intercepts of Zawahiri’s orders to Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to carry out an attack.
The State Department, in its directive, has ordered a reduction in the number of emergency US Government personnel in Yemen. “We are concerned about a threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks against US persons or facilities overseas, especially emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” it said. While steps are being taken to protect its employees, including local employees and visitors, the department asked all other US citizens to heed the travel warning in effect. Two US military transport aircraft are said to have landed in Yemen on Tuesday to evacuate American citizens.
“As staff levels at the Embassy are restricted, our ability to assist US citizens in an emergency and provide routine consular services remains limited and may be further constrained by the fluid security situation,” the travel warning said. The Pentagon said US defence personnel continue on the ground in Yemen to support the State Department and monitor the security situation.
US officials continue to be non-specific about the Al Qaeda threat. “What we know is the threat emanates from, and may be focused on, occurring in the Arabian Peninsula. It could potentially be beyond that, or elsewhere,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “We continue to refine our assessment of the threat. We do, you can imagine, get new information and as we do so we’ll evaluate our security needs going forward,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said.