Al Qaeda in Yemen

The US has deployed drones to hunt down Al Qaeda militants in Yemen for the first time in years, said US officials. The use of unmanned spy plane is part of a campaign against an Al Qaeda branch that has claimed responsibility for several terror attempts on US targets, including the two parcel bombs addressed to Chicago-based synagogues detected on cargo planes in Britain and Dubai Oct 29, The Washington Post reported. According to senior US officials, the Predator unmanned spy planes have been patrolling the skies over Yemen for several months in search of operatives of the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), but they have not fired any missiles due to lack of solid intelligence on the insurgents' whereabouts. Officials praised Yemeni cooperation and said they have been given wide latitude. Asked whether the drones would be free to shoot, an official said: 'The only thing that does fall into the 'no' category right now is boots on the ground.' Senior officials of US President Barack Obama's administration said that cooperation with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has intensified in the aftermath of the parcel bomb plot and that the subsequent shutdown of commercial and cargo flights from Yemen focused the government's attention on the cost of AQAP's presence in the country. The US officials said a major buildup of intelligence and lethal assets was already underway, including the arrival of additional CIA teams and up to 100 special operations force trainers and the deployment of sophisticated surveillance and electronic eavesdropping systems operated by spy services including the National Security Agency. Drones used in Pakistan are operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The drone strikes in Pakistan are aimed not only at top Al Qaeda figures but at Taliban groups that use safe havens there to attack US troops across the border.