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| Arabia |
| Yemen Boosts Gas Port Security after Foiled Bomb Plot |
| 2013-09-22 |
| [An Nahar] Yemeni authorities sent more soldiers to the coastal town of Balhaf Saturday, a day after an alleged al-Qaeda plot to attack a key gas terminal was foiled, a security official said. The thwarted attack came after three other simultaneous assaults killed scores of security personnel in the lawless southern al-Qaeda stronghold of Shabwa province, where Balhaf is also located. Local and military officials have said 56 soldiers and coppers were killed in the three attacks. State news agency Saba reported that 21 troops were confirmed dead and 15 maimed, but that the fate of "many" more was unknown. "A 170-strong army force arrived at Balhaf" on the Gulf of Aden, the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country's only port for exporting liquefied natural gas, the security official told Agence La Belle France Presse. "On Sunday, the troops will be deployed at the checkpoints that were targeted in Friday's attacks and new checkpoints will be set up," the source said. Friday's deadliest single attack was on an army camp responsible for ensuring security at Shabwa oilfields, the military said. The two other attacks targeted an army checkpoint in Al-Nushaima area and a special forces camp at nearby Maifaa. The defense ministry in Sanaa said a fourth al-Qaeda attempt to detonate explosives targeting the Balhaf terminal ended in failure. |
| Posted by:Fred |