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Yemen security forces arrest local al-Qaida commander

30 October 2013 00:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Yemeni security forces arrested a local commander of the al-Qaida terrorist group in the southeastern province of Hadramout on Tuesday evening, a provincial security official told Xinhua, APA reports.

The captured al-Qaida leader identified as Omar Salem is one of the most dangerous wanted al-Qaida members plotting to carry out assassinations and armed attacks against army bases in Hadramout, the security source said on condition of anonymity.

The official accused Salem of being a "well-known explosives expert and a local commander of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch in Hadramout province."

Salem also masterminded bomb blasts and armed attacks in neighboring southeastern province of Shabwa and a string of bombings elsewhere in southern Yemen, according to the official.

The state-run Saba news agency said that "the military forces arrested the al-Qaida leader Omar Salem, who was involved in the assassination of the Military Academy's deputy director Ali Omar ben Feraygan in Hadramout."

"Salem's arrest was made by a patrol of the 190 Brigade of Air Defense after a process of monitoring the terrorist based on information obtained by the leadership of the Military Command," Saba quoted a high-ranking military official as saying.

Last month, the al-Qaida militants stormed a military base in Hadramout, killing at least 15 military personnel.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said in a statement obtained by Xinhua that its last month attack in Hadramout targeted a joint U.S.-Yemeni security operations room used to direct drone strikes against al-Qaida members.

The AQAP, which emerged in January 2009, is considered as the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and its neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.