NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- All of the U.S. embassies and consulates closed last week due to fears of a terrorist attack reopened, except the one in Sanaa, Yemen, officials said.
The diplomatic outposts reopened Sunday, marking the easing of imminent danger. The diplomatic posts were closed when the Obama administration issued a warning of a possible terrorist attack stemming from a U.S. intelligence report based on an intercepted a message between top al-Qaida leaders.
Eight U.S. drone strikes in Yemen during the past two weeks killed 34 suspected al-Qaida militants -- none of them "household names," a senior U.S. intelligence official said -- but the threat in that country remains high, The New York Times reported.
The official said the drone attacks had targeted "rising stars" in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
"They may not be big names now," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, "but these were the guys that would have been future leaders."
The official said the recent terrorist threat "expanded the scope of people we could go after" in Yemen.
"Before, we couldn't necessarily go after a driver for the organization; it'd have to be an operations director," the official said. "Now that driver becomes fair game because he's providing direct support to the plot."
Read More
- Almost all threat-closed U.S. embassies to reopen Sunday
- Terror threat: U.S. evacuates consulate in Pakistan
- State Department stands firm on al-Qaida warning
- State Department continually evaluating intel on threats to missions
- Air Force evacuating U.S. Embassy personnel in Yemen
- Yemen says it foiled al-Qaida plot to attack energy facilities, port
- Canada changes course and closes Dhaka embassy
- Eyes on Yemen as al-Qaida terror alert increases
