American citizens urged to leave Yemen as terror threat level increase

Following on from pulling diplomatic staff from Yemen, along with a number of Middle East and African countries last week, the U.S. have now urged all American citizens to leave the Arab country immediately with the expectation of an imminent attack. The drastic measure has been replicated by the British government who have also recalled embassy staff, with both countries stating the move has been 'out of an abundance of caution'. 

A reported 4 U.S. drone strikes have occurred in the last ten days, resulting in the deaths of 4 al Qaeda militants, as well as an attack on a mosque in the capital, Sanaa, which seen a bomb thrown into the mosque killing one and injuring a further 12. Following on from this, a secret message was intercepted from high level al Qaeda operative, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In the message, al-Zawahiri tells al-Wujayshi to 'do something' about the attacks. As Ramadan ends this week, and with tensions running high, now would be a significant time to launch an attack on the West. 

After an attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya,last year which killed four Americans, including the American ambassador it is unsurprising that the country is taking such drastic steps to ensure the safety of it's citizens. However, what is surprising is that if the US intercepted these messages, why would they make such a public statement telling the world they were withdrawing embassy staff instead of discreetly pulling them out. It could be a staged pre-emptive move in order to stop any plans that may be afoot following on from the drone attacks, which, if it is the case, could be a fairly antagonistic move. However, I may be too cynical and the US and British governments are simply acting out of genuine concern for their people with no ulterior motive (which would be a first). Regardless of their motives, I think it's fairly safe to say that any attacks al Qaeda may have planned for the Western diplomats in Yemen, will be unlikely to come to fruition. However, it may be worth while for the U.S. and U.K embassies to put other diplomats in the neighbouring area of high alert, if al Qaeda want retaliation, I am sure they will find a way to get it.

Lora