Yemen vows to keep striking Qaeda 'round-the-clock'

SANAA (AFP) - The Yemeni government on Tuesday dismissed Al-Qaeda threats and said it will strike the militants “round-the-clock,” after the group’s local affiliate called for attacks on US interests worldwide.
Yemen “will not be intimidated by Al-Qaeda threats,” the interior ministry said in a statement. “Security forces will continue to combat any violation of the law and will strike terrorist hideouts wherever they are found.” Al-Qaeda threats “do not frighten the security forces” and the threats “reflect the isolation and despair of terrorist elements in Yemen,” the interior ministry said.
“There is no truce with the terrorists,” it said. Yemen’s security forces will “track terrorist elements throughout Yemen, around the clock.”
Regional analysts on Tuesday scoffed at AQAP’s ability to carry out its threat to control the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden link used by 30 percent of world trade and which also connects the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. “I don’t believe they’re capable of controlling the Bab al-Mandab strait,” said Riad Kahwaji, director of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
He pointed out that the militants lacked the required air and anti-ship missile assets.
An Egyptian specialist on Islamist groups, Dhia Rashwan, said Al-Qaeda’s franchise in the Gulf lacked experience in maritime operations and the strong bases needed on both sides of the strait.
Kahwaji said the international naval forces, already deployed in the region to counter Somali pirates, would not allow AQAP to carry out its threat.