Yemeni army launches major offensive against al Qaeda Sanaa – Ali Rabea The Yemeni authorities discovered on Saturday a car bomb near one of the military points in the vicinity of the largest Yemeni air base (south of the country) where hundreds of US Marines supervise attacks by American drone in Yemen, while the US authorities said earlier that the Marines are at Anad base to train Yemeni army on fighting terrorism.
An official source in the Office of the Yemeni Air Force told Arabstoday that the special forces suspected a car parked near Anad air base in Lahj governorate. The police checked it and discovered explosives packed in a domestic gas cylinders as well as to guns, grenades and two rockets.
Bomb disposal experts dismantled the explosive devices found in the car. The source said that the investigation continue. They still do not know how anyone could have managed to park a car at this particular point.
The source believed that the car belongs to al Qaeda elements who were preparing for a suicide attack against Anad air base.
Anad air base, in south Yemen, is one of the largest military bases and the oldest in the Arabian Peninsula. It was established by the Soviets during the Cold War. South Yemen was governed by the Yemeni Socialist which supported the Communists at the time.
Nowadays Washington uses the base to launch its aircraft drones against al Qaeda groups active in south and east Yemen. Hundreds of US Marines in the base oversee these raids, and train elements of the Yemeni army to confront terrorism.
Yemeni President Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi confessed during his last visit in Washington that he personally agrees on the raids launched by the United States on his country - these raids have sparked controversy among residents, opponents considers it as a violation of the sovereignty of Yemen. They also consider that Americans should not killing and injuring innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the militant groups.
On the other hand, tribal leaders threatened during their conference in Sanaa on Saturday to face the Houthi group (Shiite) and the supporters of the Southern Movement. The tribal leaders demanded the lift of the immunity of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh which was granted to him thanks to the Gulf Initiative, an international scheme set to put back Yemen on its feet after the revolution.
The leader of the largest Yemeni tribe Sheikh Sadiq Ahmar said: "The Houthis and Southerners should denounce violence in order to avoid violence. Moreover , the immunity should be lifted off Ali Abdullah Saleh because he can not work in politics but has immunity at the same time.”
Tribal sources who attended the meeting, which was boycotted by tribal leaders loyal to Saleh's party, said : “ The tribal Conference discussed crucial issues such as the formation of a united front to face the Iranian interventions and the role of the tribes in the modern civil state . We want a united stance towards the important issues, most notably the National Dialogue Conference and weapons and revenge issues.”
The meeting was also boycotted by the known Sheikh and the tribal leader of Bakil tribe and the leader of the Yemeni chieftains, Naji Shayef, who believes that this tribal alliance is an attempt by Sheikh Sadiq Ahmar to assign himself as the leader of the Yemeni chieftains instead of Shayef.
The alliance of the Yemeni  tribes, led by Sadiq Ahmar, was founded on July 3 in 2011 as a tribal trend which supports the popular protests and is an anti-regime alliance. A large number of young Yemenis believed that these tribal alliances and its growing role contradict the concept of the civil state which they want to establish on the ruins of Saleh’s regime.