This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/world/middleeast/yemen-silent-on-disclosure-of-shooting-by-americans.html
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Yemen Shooting Opens Window on U.S. Clandestine Operations | Yemen Shooting Opens Window on U.S. Clandestine Operations |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| SANA, Yemen — The kidnappers pulled up in a pickup truck outside the Taj barbershop in an upscale neighborhood here in the Yemeni capital. One held an AK-47 assault rifle and the other carried a stun gun. As the men went inside, nearby shopkeepers heard shots. | SANA, Yemen — The kidnappers pulled up in a pickup truck outside the Taj barbershop in an upscale neighborhood here in the Yemeni capital. One held an AK-47 assault rifle and the other carried a stun gun. As the men went inside, nearby shopkeepers heard shots. |
| Then a foreigner — tall, with the physique of a body builder, and holding a black gun — was seen standing over one of the mortally wounded attackers in the doorway of the barbershop, witnesses said. The foreigner kicked an automatic weapon out of the man’s hands, looked right and left down the street, jumped into a nearby sport utility vehicle and drove away. | Then a foreigner — tall, with the physique of a body builder, and holding a black gun — was seen standing over one of the mortally wounded attackers in the doorway of the barbershop, witnesses said. The foreigner kicked an automatic weapon out of the man’s hands, looked right and left down the street, jumped into a nearby sport utility vehicle and drove away. |
| Those new details emerged Saturday about a shooting last month in which the Obama administration said two Americans from the United States Embassy killed two armed Yemenis who were trying to kidnap them from the barbershop. | Those new details emerged Saturday about a shooting last month in which the Obama administration said two Americans from the United States Embassy killed two armed Yemenis who were trying to kidnap them from the barbershop. |
| While much about the encounter remains unclear, a Yemeni official said Saturday that the two Yemeni assailants were part of a cell linked to Al Qaeda that had planned and executed several attacks on foreigners in the country. Whether by design or chance, the official said, the Americans had apparently disrupted a kidnapping ring that government officials blame for killing a Frenchman last week, kidnapping a Dutch couple last year, trying to assassinate a German diplomat last month, and attacking the central prison here in February, freeing 19 inmates. | While much about the encounter remains unclear, a Yemeni official said Saturday that the two Yemeni assailants were part of a cell linked to Al Qaeda that had planned and executed several attacks on foreigners in the country. Whether by design or chance, the official said, the Americans had apparently disrupted a kidnapping ring that government officials blame for killing a Frenchman last week, kidnapping a Dutch couple last year, trying to assassinate a German diplomat last month, and attacking the central prison here in February, freeing 19 inmates. |
| The shooting at the barbershop led Yemeni authorities to the group’s leader, Wael Abdullah al-Waeli, said an Interior Ministry spokesman, Col. Mohamed al-Qaidi. Yemeni officials said that they killed Mr. Waeli last Wednesday during a shootout in the capital. The State Department announced Wednesday that it had closed its embassy here to the public because of security concerns. | The shooting at the barbershop led Yemeni authorities to the group’s leader, Wael Abdullah al-Waeli, said an Interior Ministry spokesman, Col. Mohamed al-Qaidi. Yemeni officials said that they killed Mr. Waeli last Wednesday during a shootout in the capital. The State Department announced Wednesday that it had closed its embassy here to the public because of security concerns. |
| The shooting on April 24 has opened a rare window into American clandestine operations in Yemen, a major battleground against what counterterrorism officials say is Al Qaeda’s most dangerous regional affiliate. And it has emerged as a potential source of embarrassment for Yemen’s president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose government helped conceal the American role in the shooting, allowing the two officers to leave Yemen quietly a few days after the shooting. | The shooting on April 24 has opened a rare window into American clandestine operations in Yemen, a major battleground against what counterterrorism officials say is Al Qaeda’s most dangerous regional affiliate. And it has emerged as a potential source of embarrassment for Yemen’s president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose government helped conceal the American role in the shooting, allowing the two officers to leave Yemen quietly a few days after the shooting. |
| Yemeni officials have not yet publicly acknowledged that Americans were responsible for killing the attackers, referring only to “foreigners.” | Yemeni officials have not yet publicly acknowledged that Americans were responsible for killing the attackers, referring only to “foreigners.” |
| In Washington, spokesmen for the State Department, Pentagon and C.I.A. declined on Saturday to provide any details about the shooting. American officials, however, said they strongly suspected that the Qaeda branch in Yemen was behind the attempted kidnapping, and that embassy personnel were targets of other planned kidnappings. | In Washington, spokesmen for the State Department, Pentagon and C.I.A. declined on Saturday to provide any details about the shooting. American officials, however, said they strongly suspected that the Qaeda branch in Yemen was behind the attempted kidnapping, and that embassy personnel were targets of other planned kidnappings. |
| The State Department acknowledged Friday only that two embassy officers had shot and killed two assailants who tried to kidnap them, and that the shooting was under investigation. Two American officials identified the men as a Special Operations commando and a C.I.A. officer. | The State Department acknowledged Friday only that two embassy officers had shot and killed two assailants who tried to kidnap them, and that the shooting was under investigation. Two American officials identified the men as a Special Operations commando and a C.I.A. officer. |
| The killings have an echo of a 2011 case in which a C.I.A. security officer, Raymond A. Davis, was jailed for weeks after killing two Pakistanis on a crowded street in Lahore. | The killings have an echo of a 2011 case in which a C.I.A. security officer, Raymond A. Davis, was jailed for weeks after killing two Pakistanis on a crowded street in Lahore. |
| On Saturday, witnesses and Yemeni officials gave a slightly different account of the shooting, saying that only one of the foreigners had actually fired his weapon, striking each of the attackers at least twice. | On Saturday, witnesses and Yemeni officials gave a slightly different account of the shooting, saying that only one of the foreigners had actually fired his weapon, striking each of the attackers at least twice. |
| Colonel Qaidi said the kidnappers had pretended to be police officers. The foreigner who fired at them was carrying a licensed weapon, he said, and first shot the Yemeni man carrying the AK-47 before shooting his partner. | Colonel Qaidi said the kidnappers had pretended to be police officers. The foreigner who fired at them was carrying a licensed weapon, he said, and first shot the Yemeni man carrying the AK-47 before shooting his partner. |
| Shopkeepers and witnesses said the police questioned the barbershop staff for a few hours, and took away the owner, but he was later released. Individuals who witnesses believed were relatives of the gunmen came to collect their bodies, argued with the police, and were arrested. | Shopkeepers and witnesses said the police questioned the barbershop staff for a few hours, and took away the owner, but he was later released. Individuals who witnesses believed were relatives of the gunmen came to collect their bodies, argued with the police, and were arrested. |
| Later that night, officers returned, and took a copy of a recording made by a video camera at the barbershop, shopkeepers and witnesses said, and then destroyed the equipment. The shop has been closed since the shooting, though it was opened briefly so the employees could clean it, other shopkeepers said. | Later that night, officers returned, and took a copy of a recording made by a video camera at the barbershop, shopkeepers and witnesses said, and then destroyed the equipment. The shop has been closed since the shooting, though it was opened briefly so the employees could clean it, other shopkeepers said. |
| Many other questions remain unanswered about what exactly the two Americans were doing at a barbershop on a street frequented by Westerners in the Yemeni capital, apparently with no security detail. “They just went out for haircut? It seems a little strange to me,” said Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen scholar and author of “The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al Qaeda and America’s War in Arabia” who visited Sana five weeks ago. | |
| A former United States Embassy official said the barbershop had been popular with embassy staff members when many lived outside the embassy compound. “But most folks have gotten their hair cut at the embassy for quite some time now,” the former official said, “as the requirements to move into town are just too onerous to warrant that level of effort to get a haircut.” | A former United States Embassy official said the barbershop had been popular with embassy staff members when many lived outside the embassy compound. “But most folks have gotten their hair cut at the embassy for quite some time now,” the former official said, “as the requirements to move into town are just too onerous to warrant that level of effort to get a haircut.” |
| Mr. Johnsen said security was so tight in the capital that embassy personnel he met had to get permission from Washington to leave the walled compound. But the armed American officers may have been operating under different rules. | Mr. Johnsen said security was so tight in the capital that embassy personnel he met had to get permission from Washington to leave the walled compound. But the armed American officers may have been operating under different rules. |
| In the past two years, since Mr. Hadi’s election, the Pentagon has gradually increased its presence in Yemen, sending about 50 Special Operations troops to train Yemeni counterterrorism and security forces, and a like number of commandos to help identify and target Qaeda suspects for drone strikes, according to American officials. | In the past two years, since Mr. Hadi’s election, the Pentagon has gradually increased its presence in Yemen, sending about 50 Special Operations troops to train Yemeni counterterrorism and security forces, and a like number of commandos to help identify and target Qaeda suspects for drone strikes, according to American officials. |
| While strikes carried out by C.I.A. drones operating from a secret base in southern Saudi Arabia illustrate the best-known covert program in Yemen, the C.I.A. also has a significant number of personnel in Yemen conducting counterterrorism missions and some training, the officials said. | While strikes carried out by C.I.A. drones operating from a secret base in southern Saudi Arabia illustrate the best-known covert program in Yemen, the C.I.A. also has a significant number of personnel in Yemen conducting counterterrorism missions and some training, the officials said. |
| The C.I.A. has stepped up its cooperation not only with Yemen’s spy agencies, but also with Saudi intelligence, which has deep contacts in its southern neighbor. | The C.I.A. has stepped up its cooperation not only with Yemen’s spy agencies, but also with Saudi intelligence, which has deep contacts in its southern neighbor. |
| It was Saudi intelligence, for instance, that helped thwart a plot by Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate here, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in October 2010 to pack explosives in printer cartridges and load them on cargo planes bound for Chicago. And it was a Saudi double agent who infiltrated the Qaeda offshoot to foil a plot in 2012 to blow up a United States-bound airliner. | It was Saudi intelligence, for instance, that helped thwart a plot by Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate here, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in October 2010 to pack explosives in printer cartridges and load them on cargo planes bound for Chicago. And it was a Saudi double agent who infiltrated the Qaeda offshoot to foil a plot in 2012 to blow up a United States-bound airliner. |
| The Obama administration’s counterterrorism strategy in Yemen aims to help President Hadi overhaul his nation’s military to combat the Qaeda franchise in its strongholds in large parts of the country’s south. And it calls for the United States and Yemen to work together to kill or capture about two dozen of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous operatives, who are focused on attacking America and its interests. | The Obama administration’s counterterrorism strategy in Yemen aims to help President Hadi overhaul his nation’s military to combat the Qaeda franchise in its strongholds in large parts of the country’s south. And it calls for the United States and Yemen to work together to kill or capture about two dozen of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous operatives, who are focused on attacking America and its interests. |
| This approach adheres to the White House’s global counterterrorism strategy in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: to employ small numbers of Special Operations troops, C.I.A. paramilitary teams and drones against elements of Al Qaeda that are committed to striking the United States, while arming and advising indigenous security forces to tackle costlier long-term counterinsurgency campaigns. | This approach adheres to the White House’s global counterterrorism strategy in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: to employ small numbers of Special Operations troops, C.I.A. paramilitary teams and drones against elements of Al Qaeda that are committed to striking the United States, while arming and advising indigenous security forces to tackle costlier long-term counterinsurgency campaigns. |
| Whether the strategy will work in Yemen is still unclear. “In Yemen, there are a variety of different factions, each with enough weapons and men, but none have enough guns or men to impose their will on everyone else,” said Mr. Johnsen. “So there is lots of maneuvering behind the scenes.” | Whether the strategy will work in Yemen is still unclear. “In Yemen, there are a variety of different factions, each with enough weapons and men, but none have enough guns or men to impose their will on everyone else,” said Mr. Johnsen. “So there is lots of maneuvering behind the scenes.” |