Yemen: After being driven out of occupied territories Al Qaeda vows to return to mountains and caves

An article by a Yemen-based journalist relays reports from an Al Qaeda leader in Abyan province who claims Al Qaeda has decided that it is too costly in terms of money spent on providing services to occupy cities and large swathes of territory. However, this expenditure no doubt helped them win over the populace in cities they controlled. Providing services was something the central government did not do well.

The leader said that the group used to spend in the city of Jaar 300,000 U.S. each month and in the whole of Abyan province 2 million U.S. dollars per month. One wonders where they were able to get the money. In any event it seems clear that the militants were simply unable to defend themselves against the Yemen armed forces combined with U.S. drones and supervision. They were bound to eventually lose the territory they had occupied.

The militants say that all their funds now can be directed to guerrilla war and terrorist attacks. Several cities were held by the militants for a year and a half..One wonders if the militants will not also mingle in with the general population in cities and plan terrorist attacks against Yemeni security forces and any American Special Forces they discover. For more see the full article.

Cargo Plane downed in Somalia

Somalia is slowly returning to its earlier state of chaos. The provisional govt. really does not seem to have much support and without peacekeepers and Ethiopian troops it would no doubt retreat from Mogadishu again.

Rocket attack downs plane in Somalia, killing 11
Last Updated: Friday, March 23, 2007 | 5:28 PM ET
CBC News
A rocket attack shot down a cargo plane in the Somali capital of Mogadishu Friday, killing all 11 aboard, according to a report.

The plane, which had just delivered supplies for Ugandan peacekeepers, was hit in the wing during takeoff and crashed in flames.

"I saw the plane flying at low altitude, a missile hit one of the wings, and then the plane fell," a reporter for the country's Shabelle news service told Reuters.

The Itar-Tass news agency reported the 11-person crew was killed, though there has been no official confirmation.

Capt. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia, confirmed a crash. Ankunda was unsure of the nationalities of the crew or whether they had survived, but said, "We are afraid that they have gone."

The attack came at the end of a bloody week in war-torn Somalia, in which dozens of civilians were killed. Insurgent groups are striking daily against the government, their Ethiopian military allies and a contingent of 1,200 Ugandan soldiers in the vanguard of an African Union peacekeeping force.

The country has endured continuing violence since last year. In July 2006, the forces of the Islamic Courts Union [UIC], an alliance of Sharia courts, captured Mogadishu and ousted the warlords who have ruled the country since 1991. The Ethiopian military later intervened on behalf of the Somalian government, driving the UIC out of the capital, though the group continues fighting a guerilla campaign.

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