Meeting with international terror experts over the last two weeks, most of them expected one thing for sure: A massive Al-Qaeda attack soon.
According to the experts, the last 17 Al-Qaeda attacks in Yemen needed little planning or were easy to accomplish, even the attack on the British diplomatic vehicle with an RBG rocket. The rocket was launched from a very far distance and that is why it missed its target. The attacks in the south needed little planning and were mostly random attacks on security officials who have weak personal security.
For this reason experts believe that Al-Qaeda needs to show that they are strong and have the capabilities to launch massive attacks resembling those that take place it Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
This could be a negative turning point for the Yemeni government as more Al-Qaeda elements in neighboring countries may start coming to Yemen, seeing it as the future battle ground.
Al-Qaeda only became stronger in Yemen after the U.S. drone attacks in Mareb and Abyan over the last year. Those raids killed many innocent people, therefore, giving Al-Qaeda a strong word when approaching locals and telling them that U.S. is killing Yemenis randomly.
In addition, when we met General Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh (Head of the Counter Terror Unit) this month, he openly said that he does not have a problem with random U.S. attacks in Yemen. Yahya’s comments will be used by Al-Qaeda to show people that the current government is a tool in the hand of those who want to kill innocent citizens under claims that they are fighting Al-Qaeda, like those attacks that take place daily in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
So, a large scale Al-Qaeda attack is expected very soon. The actions of the current government and unwise attacks in Yemen by the U.S. were key to making Al-Qaeda the power they are today.

ABOUT Yemen Post Publisher & Chief Editor:

Hakim Almasmari is an American journalist and Middle East expert based in Sana'a, Yemen. His work has appeared for many of the worlds top media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Post, AlJazeera, Fox News, The Guardian, The National, USA Today among numerous others. He has also worked with some of the world’s top organizations. Reporting out of Yemen for nearly eight years, he is the current editor in chief for the Yemen Post. He is a university lecturer in the field of international media and also studied business and law. Considered one of the top experts on Yemen, Almasmari has closely worked with international strategic centers and think tanks helping them better understand Yemen. He is a frequent guest on many international TV outlets discussing current local and international affairs. Almasmari's ancestors are from Yemen, and was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. His mother tongue is English and is fluent in Arabic.