Yemeni Security Forces Foil Jailbreak Attempt In Aden

Yemeni security forces foiled Friday an escape attempt by 25 al-Qaida inmates at the central jail in the southern port city of Aden, a government official told Xinhua.

About 25 prisoners of the al-Qaida terrorist group tried to flee the Mansoura central jail in Aden after they dug a 10-meter tunnel, but the timely intervention of security forces foiled the effort, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

“Several al-Qaida prisoners started to dig an underground tunnel themselves and attempted breaking out unlawfully from custody,” the government source said.

“Most of prisoners were members of the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing and classified as dangerous terrorists,” he added. The situation has been brought under control with no inmates escaping from the jail, according to the official.

In January 2009, al-Qaida affiliates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen officially merged and formed Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP).

The group, mainly entrenching itself in Yemen’s southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, is on the terrorist list of the United States, which considers it as an increasing threat to its national security.

The AQAP underscores the challenges faced by Yemen’s new President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who won support from major Yemeni political forces, the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Hadi is tasked with restoring security and stability to Yemen and putting an end to growing influence of al-Qaida that threatens daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Xinhuanet

Leave a comment