REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SANAA - A suspected US drone killed four alleged al-Qaida members in Yemen on Tuesday, as the US and British embassies evacuated staff amid reports of a threatened attack by al-Qaida that has triggered temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Muslim world.
Yemeni officials have suggested al-Qaida threats to multiple potential targets in the Arabian Peninsula country in recent days, including foreign installations and government offices in the capital Sanaa as well as to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea to the south.
It is not clear if these reports are the same as the intelligence that led to the embassy shutdowns, reportedly instigated by an intercepted message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and his deputy in Yemen about plans for a major terror attack.
The State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the US Embassy in Yemen to leave the country. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel from Yemen "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks" and said US citizens in Yemen should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level.
Britain's Foreign Office also said it has evacuated all staff from its embassy in Yemen due to increased security concerns. The Foreign Office said the British Embassy staff were "temporarily withdrawn to the UK" on Tuesday. It declined to comment further.
US drones strike
Meanwhile, there has been a spike in apparent US drone strikes against al-Qaida leaders. The attack Tuesday was the fourth in two weeks.
Yemen officials say the drone fired a missile at a car carrying four men in the al-Arqeen district of Marib province, setting it on fire and killing all of them. They believed that one of the dead is Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaida member.
To the west, in the capital Sanaa, residents awoke to the sound of an aircraft buzzing overhead. Officials said it was American, and photos posted on Instagram appeared to show a P-3 Orion, a manned aircraft used for surveillance. All officials spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to brief the media.
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