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Al-Qaeda claims attack in Yemen oil province
Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based arm said it was behind an attack that killed at least six soldiers in an oil province last month, and threatened more strikes on government targets.
Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based arm said it was behind an attack that killed at least six soldiers in an oil province last month, and threatened more strikes on government targets.
The attack in the southern Shabwa province on July 25 was among five raids on state targets since June which have been blamed on the resurgent militant group.
Officials have said al-Qaeda may have been also behind an attack that killed three soldiers on Thursday.
"Anyone who stands with (Yemeni President) Ali Saleh and his government, and with the Crusader (Western) campaign is against our Muslim people is our enemy and a legitimate target for us," al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Saturday.
The group previously focused its high-impact strikes on foreign targets but has started to aim at the state in response to enhanced US-Yemeni cooperation in a crackdown that has included air strikes and raids.
Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing earlier claimed responsibility for a failed suicide bombing of a U.S.-bound plane in December, focusing Western security concerns on the impoverished Arab country, which is a neighbour of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
