SANAA, Yemen, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Yemeni forces targeting militants with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula have struck a major blow to the terrorist organization, an information minister said.
Yemeni Information Minister Ahmad Allawzi told a Jordanian news station that al-Qaida was starting to lose the battle in Yemen.
Yemeni forces have concentrated their fight in the southern provinces where AQAP is allegedly holed up.
"All these show that such operations reflect that al-Qaida in Yemen is dying," Yemen's official Saba news agency quoted the minister as saying. "They have been hit by security forces with the help of armed forces in a number of governorates."
His comments follow statements for AQAP cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who said in a weekend video that Islam was "exposed to fateful dangers" and was in "severe need for guidance," CNN quoted the video as saying.
Awlaki allegedly contacted the suspect in the November shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas, and the would-be bomber of a Christmas Day flight bound for Detroit. In al-Qaida's magazine Inspire he lauded the virtues of martyrdom operations.
Adam Gadhan, a U.S.-born spokesman for al-Qaida, called for attacks on Western targets in a weekend message obtained by the SITE intelligence forum and reviewed by CNN.
Gadhan in his statement called on people who lived on the "margins" of society in the "miserable" suburbs of Paris, London and Detroit to "know that jihad is your duty as well."
