Yemen Military against Foreign Troop Presence

Yemen’s president has said that growing threats from Al-Qa’ida are his country’s biggest challenge and is calling on citizens to fight the militant Islamists. In an address made at a mosque, President ‘Ali ‘Abdallah ‘Salih said Yemenis “should stand by the side of the state. These terrorists are harming the interests of the nation and its citizens.” Yemen faces a three-front assault from Al-Houthi rebels in the north and separatists in the south, but the Al-Qa’ida threat is the country’s most troublesome, ‘Salih said. He compared the recent attacks on his forces to the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Interior Ministry, which is also responsible for security, said it has raised the alert level for its forces across the country and increased the number of patrols. American officials have been saying Washington is considering enhancing Yemen government forces and boosting its presence of unmanned aerial vehicles in Yemen. But according to a newspaper published by the Yemen Defense Ministry, military leaders have refused to accept the intervention of foreign troops.