Al-Qaeda’s creativity streak worries experts
British
officials have expressed on Wednesday serious security reservations
toward al-Qaeda’s apparent determination to develop harder-to-detect
bombs as part of its new strategy.
And since Al-Qaeda Yemen has been flagged as the most dangerous
operating cell in the region, r Whitehall officials have had the eye
decisively set on Sana’a, assessing the best course of action.
Although no one can deny that coalition President Abdo Rabbo Mansour
Hadi has successfully crack-downed on Islamic militants over the past
years, having built an impressive network of alliances with local tribes
and local officials to flush out terror cells and drive out militants,
Islamic radicals have proven more resilient than anticipated.
Several security analysts have actually argued that Yemen is paying the
price of its own success now that al-Qaeda has been backed into a
corner, forced to fight for its very survival as opposed to planning its
expansion. Because terror militants leave in the fear of drone strikes
and government raids, its leaders have had to readjust their strategy
and revert to more covert terror tactics with high impact.
As a result a number of British airports have hiked up their security details.
Since Yemen’s very own al-Qaeda franchise managed since 2009 to evade
international airport security on three occasions, the idea that the
terror group is working toward undetectable explosive devices has been a
source of deep concerns.
A senior UK counter-terrorism official told the BBC on Wednesday under
cover of anonymity, "The most serious terrorist threat to European
aviation comes from AQAP.” He added, “They are technically adept, they
move very fast, they have a core of experienced people, they operate in a
country with fragile areas and elude the Yemeni authorities. Plus they
have the ability to inspire people to lone acts of terror."
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