Al-Qaida forms army of 12,000 fighters in Yemen

The Yemen-based wing of militant outfit al-Qaida has threatened to "cleanse the land" with a new army of 12,000 fighters.



"We have a good news for the Islamic nation, that an army of 12,000 fighters is being prepared in Aden and Abyan," Xinhua quoted Mohamed Saied al-Omda, field commander of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as saying in an audio recording posted on a website on Thursday.
"By this army, we will establish an Islamic Caliphate," said al-Omda, referring to Yemen's southern province of Abyan and the port city of Aden.
"This is a message to the Yemeni government security and the National security Service: our swords are ready and we are resolved to cleanse the land," he said.
The al-Qaida commander also accused the government of "allying with the US-led crusader military campaign", which "killed innocent Muslims and destroyed homes and mosques in the provinces of Abyan and Marib under the approval of the Yemeni government".
The al-Qaida commander vowed to repeat "more deadly attacks similar to the one that attacked the Yemeni intelligence headquarters in the port city of Aden in June".