Al-Qaeda becomes more active

Al Qaeda militants became more active in late December-early January.  

The US and the UK Embassies in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, were closed in early January after a warning of possible attack. They were shortly reopened after successful anti-terrorist operations conducted by Yemen security services. Several al-Qaeda militants were liquidated in the Arhab district, North Yemen. Five members of al-Qaeda in Yemen were arrested in Sanaa and in the Hodeidah region (West Yemen). However, the US Embassy still warns that the threat remains.

In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer on a US base in the Khost province. This terrorist act is considered to be the most dramatic throughout the CIA history.

On December 25th, on Christmas day, a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blast a bomb on board an Amsterdam-Detroit plane. He received burns and was arrested. After being questioned he confessed to being involved in al-Qaeda and said that the terrorist act was prepared in Yemen.

On January 7th   , US President Barack Obama made a statement in which he bore responsibility for the US special services’ uncoordinated actions. According to John Brennan, Deputy National Security Advisor, the Special Services managed to get information about a plot and transfer it where necessary but they failed to connect it to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Due to new incidents and terrorist acts, the al-Qaeda issue is burning again. This international terrorist organization was founded in the late 1980s in Pakistan to fight against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the troops were withdrawn, al-Qaeda began to fight against the US, Western countries and their Muslim allies.

The organization aims to create the Great Islamic Caliphate instead of secular regimes in Islamic countries. The most notorious crimes of al-Qaeda are September 11th attacks on NY and Washington DC.