Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, September 29, 2014

Al Qaeda-Linked Militants Fire Rocket Towards U.S. Embassy In Yemen

SANAA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda splinter group launched a rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Saturday, injuring several guards, to retaliate for what it said on social media was a U.S. drone strike in a northern province the day before.

The rocket landed 200 meters from the heavily fortified embassy, which lies in a compound surrounded by high walls, hitting members of the Yemeni special police force who guard the site. At least two were injured, police said.

The attacker fired the rocket from a M72 light anti-tank weapon from a car before speeding away, a police source told Reuters.

Several hours after the attack, Ansar al-Sharia, an affiliate of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), said on its Twitter account it had targeted the embassy with a rocket, injuring several guards and damaging a vehicle.

The group said the attack was revenge for a drone strike on Friday that had seriously wounded children in the northern al Jawf province.

Tribal sources confirmed that a drone strike killed two al Qaeda members and wounded two more in al Jawf on Friday, and that there were reports of some children having been wounded.

The United States regularly uses drones to attack Islamist militants in countries such as Yemen as part of a strategy to combat al Qaeda militants without committing troops on the ground.

Washington acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practice. Al Qaeda in Yemen, including AQAP and its affiliates, are among the most active wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.


U.S. WARNS CITIZENS

The U.S. embassy in Yemen had said earlier on social media that it had no reason to believe that it was the target of the attack and that Yemeni government was looking into the situation.

The attack comes a day after the United States told its citizens to leave Yemen and said it was reducing the number of U.S. government staff there due to political unrest and fears of a possible military escalation.

Recent weeks have seen regular clashes between Shi'ite Houthi rebels and government forces in Sanaa. The Houthis seized control of the capital last week hours before the signing of an accord for the creation of a new government.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has said Yemen may be heading for civil war.

The U.S. embassy compound was stormed in 2012 by demonstrators angry at a film made in the United States which they saw as blasphemous.

In May, the embassy said armed individuals had attempted to kidnap two of its officers at a small commercial business in Sanaa. (Reporting By Mohammed Ghobari; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: Reuters

No comments:

Post a Comment