Yemen Intensifies Fight Against Al Qaeda

Kristina Reid

9-23-10

10:33

Defense officials in Sanaa, Yemen have seized a small village believed to be a hideout for Al Qaeda members. On Thursday officials surrounded the village Hawta in the southern Shabwa province of Saudi Arabia in an effort to combat terrorism. In an interview with Rashad al-Alimi, Deputy Prime Minister for Yemen defense and security, CNN reporters found out that Yemeni forces were also tracking the movements of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim cleric who is one of the leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He is believed to be holed up in the Rafad Valley of Shabwa. The officials surrounding the village are placed in areas where they have previously combated with Al Qaeda elements. Amidst all of the fighting nearly 12,000 local residents have fled their homes. Human rights groups and Amnesty international have urged government officials to provide protection for the many displaced citizens. Yemen’s government officials did not relay whether or not protection measures were being taken to keep people safe. However officials did state that they were not going to stop in their efforts to rid Sanaa of any Al Qaeda elements and the fact that they had moved to more populated areas was not going to affect their tactics. Officials maintained that they are seeking financial support from the U.S. , but noted that there are no U.S. forces fighting in Yemen.

I found this Article to be very interesting and informative but I had a little trouble reading it at first. I thought that the article didn’t give enough information about where the village actually was. I actually had to use the accompanying map to locate the city of Sanaa. I was also left wondering what Amnesty International actually is. I’ve never heard of that organization before and I think a little background information on the organization would have been a good addition to the article.