British officials have expressed on Wednesday serious security reservations toward al-Qaeda’s apparent determination to develop harder-to-detect bombs as part of its new strategy.
And since Al-Qaeda Yemen has been flagged as the most dangerous operating cell in the region, r Whitehall officials have had the eye decisively set on Sana’a, assessing the best course of action.
Although no one can deny that coalition President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi has successfully crack-downed on Islamic militants over the past years, having built an impressive network of alliances with local tribes and local officials to flush out terror cells and drive out militants, Islamic radicals have proven more resilient than anticipated.
Several security analysts have actually argued that Yemen is paying the price of its own success now that al-Qaeda has been backed into a corner, forced to fight for its very survival as opposed to planning its expansion. Because terror militants leave in the fear of drone strikes and government raids, its leaders have had to readjust their strategy and revert to more covert terror tactics with high impact.
As a result a number of British airports have hiked up their security details.
Since Yemen’s very own al-Qaeda franchise managed since 2009 to evade international airport security on three occasions, the idea that the terror group is working toward undetectable explosive devices has been a source of deep concerns.
A senior UK counter-terrorism official told the BBC on Wednesday under cover of anonymity, "The most serious terrorist threat to European aviation comes from AQAP.” He added, “They are technically adept, they move very fast, they have a core of experienced people, they operate in a country with fragile areas and elude the Yemeni authorities. Plus they have the ability to inspire people to lone acts of terror."