Al Qaeda captures Yemeni town

Al Qaida militants have taken a town 100 miles south of Yemen's capital. The militants overran army positions to capture the town and stormed a prison freeing 150 inmates.

SANAA, YEMEN (Catholic Online) - The town of Radda is being added to the territory controlled by Al Qaida in Yemen, which is taking advantage of the badly weakened central government to grab territory and spread their influence. 

Al Qaida has long been a presence in the lawless south of the country so it isn't their presence that's significant, but the capture of a town is so close to the capital. The capture highlights the government's inability to combat the terrorists. 

Al Qaida sleeper cells are believed to be waiting in nearby Sanaa.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. The government has very little resources to combat Al Qaida and the presence of the US has been controversial for a very long time.

Experts fear that if the situation gets much worse, with instability in the government persisting and Al Qaida expanding, the country could become a haven for extremists much like Afghanistan was.
 
The country has a mountainous interior where outlaws can safely abide without fear of retaliation from outsiders. From such safety and secrecy, terrorists could plot new attacks against the US.

Yemeni terror cells have already attempted attacks on the US. 

Journalists and locals are reporting that a group of about 200 militants attacked the town with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. After taking the town, they released inmates in the prison, some of who joined the militants after being given weapons. 

Subsequently, the militants clashed with troops several times around the town, killing two and wounding a third. Eventually, the militants drew a perimeter around the area and have forbidden anyone from entering or leaving. 

Yemeni security forces have tried repeatedly to evict the Al Qaida militants from their strongholds, but because of the weakened state of the government and the relative lack of resources, this is proving to be a nearly impossible task. 

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