Susanne Posel
During a military paraderehearsal this week, more than 90 people were killed after a bomber wearing an army uniform self-exploded amidst a group of soldiers at al-Sabin Square.
The terrorist group al-Qaeda claimed the bombing, saying that one of their members carried out the attack. Along with the estimated 90 killed, defense ministry officials said 222 people were injured in the attack.
The al-Qaeda plant was present moments before Defense Minister Nasser Ahmed and the army’s chief-of-staff were scheduled to greet the troops.
The majority of the dead were stationed from the Central Security Organization.
Yemen has been the stage for al-Qaeda’s attacks against the president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who recently took office. Hadi has declared war against al-Qaeda, saying it is a “religious duty’ of the state to do so.
US intelligence and military support have been covertly deployed to Yemen.
The Obama administration’s terrorism advisor, John Brennan called the attack “cowardly”.
While the violence in Yemen escalates, President Obama took the time to release a new executive order (EO) called Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen .
In this EO, Obama claims the right to confiscate “all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, including any foreign branch, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State.”
If any person, including US citizens, is accused of assisting a terrorist group of threatening “Yemen’s peace, security, and stability” they will find their possessions and bank accounts confiscated by the US government; as well as being arrested and detained by federal agencies.
Last month, Obama announced that the ‘ war on terror ” is over, claiming that we are in a “post al-Qaeda era”.
Obama admitted that his new foreign policy would allow that “we have killed most of al-Qaeda, now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al-Qaeda see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.”