CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto reported that a US counterterrorism official he spoke to described the situation in Yemen as “dire” on Thursday’s “Situation Room” on CNN.
“I spoke to a US counterterrorism official today who called the situation in Yemen ‘dire’ and says there’s no indication things are going to get better soon. Keep in mind, Yemen, home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which, along with the Khorasan group, considered the two most threatening terror groups to Americans, including the US homeland, and now dozens of their fighters are free. As Yemen continues to unravel, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is capitalizing on the chaos” he stated.
Sciutto added that “there are concerns that Saudi airstrikes backed by US intelligence are just continuing to destabilize a country already on the brink of civil war, leaving even more of a vacuum for terror groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS.”
He concluded that while the fighting in Yemen could divert AQAP’s plotting away from overseas terror attacks, but there is undoubtedly “less counterterror pressure” on AQAP, and that in private US officials use “even stronger terms” than “dire” to describe the situation in Yemen.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.