SANAA, Yemen, April 6 (UPI) -- Yemen's Interior Ministry ordered police and security forces to go on high alert out of fear of an impending terrorist attack on Sanaa.
Sources close to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh claimed to have information to suggest al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was plotting attacks on the capital city, the independent Yemen Post reports. Security forces were called on to remain vigilant and double their security presence around government buildings in Sanaa.
AQAP claimed responsibility Tuesday for attacking natural gas pipelines in the south of the country, where the security situation is compounded by a violent separatist movement.
The militant group, the Post said, claimed the attack was in retaliation for drone strikes in the area.
The CIA is suspected of conducting air raids over Yemen as part of an effort to combat AQAP. Its ideological leader Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a suspected drone strike last year.
Saleh signed a deal in 2011 to stand down following nearly a year of protests in his country. His vice president, Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, took control of the country after winning a one-man election in February.
Some political figures in Yemen threatened to join the southern secessionist movement after Hadi's victory.
