US DEPLOYS 1.500 MARINES WITH ADVANCED ARMS TO YEMEN
Sana’a, 
10 Sya’ban 1434/19 June 2013 (MINA) – The United States has deployed 1,500 Marines with advanced arms and military equipment to Yemen, says a Yemeni military official.
According to Press TV report quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), some 1,500 Marines were deployed to al-Anad military base in the country’s southern province of Lahij, al-Sharea daily quoted the official as saying on Monday.
Another 200 also arrived in the capital, Sana’a, to join the American forces already stationed in the capital’s Sheraton Hotel.
The official also said that American forces usually enter the country in small groups, but the recent large deployment could be in preparation for a possible imminent incident in the region.
The United States has stepped up its drone operations in Yemen over the past few years, killing many civilians in the Muslim country.
According to the Washington-based think tank, the New America Foundation, the US drone attacks in Yemen almost tripled in 2012.
The US has deployed a large number of troops in Al-Anad air base in Yemen’s Southern province of Lahj, local media reports revealed.
Ansarullah news website quoted Yemeni military sources as revealing that Anad air base has become the US operational headquarters in Yemen.
The report added that in addition to troops, the US army has also deployed its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the base.
A similar report by Yemeni Tagheer news website said that a US military cargo plane, carrying special military equipments and food supplies for the US marine forces landed in Sana’a international airports.
The deployment of the US marine forces in Yemen and US air strikes by pilotless drones in the country have sparked massive popular protests in the Muslim country.
Washington claims the attacks are targeted at militants but a majority of victims are civilians casualties, local media said.
The US Terror Drone strikes in Yemen
A new report by a think tank in Washington indicates that the number of the US drone airstrikes in Yemen almost tripled this year compared with the previous one.
The report by the New America Foundation, an American non-profit, nonpartisan public policy institute, showed that the number of the strikes rose to 53 in 2012 compared to 18 in 2011, AFP reported on Thursday.
The United States has launched numerous drone attacks in Yemen that have killed many innocent civilians over the past few years.
Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes.
The United States has come under fire for increasing its drone attacks in the Arab country.
Yemenis have held many demonstrations to condemn the United States violations of the country’s sovereignty.
The report also claimed that the US had decreased its drone operations in Pakistan, saying 46 strikes had been carried out in 2012 compared to 72 in 2011 and 122 in 2010.
US President Barack Obama has approved a new policy which allows the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to expand its covert drone campaign in Yemen.
According to US officials, Obama has approved the use of “signature strikes”, which will allow the CIA to launch strikes against terrorism suspects even when it does not know the identities of those who could be killed.
The move comes as the number of US assassination drone strikes in Yemen has already hit a record.
Critics of drone campaign believe that more innocent people will be killed if US strikes are expanded in Yemen.
US assassination drone strikes killed at least 64 people, mainly civilians, in southern Yemen over a period of only three days in March.
The CIA has been flying drones in Yemen since 2011 from a secret base in the country.
Last year, two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son, were also killed in US drone attacks in Yemen. Their deaths sparked strong criticism against Obama administration’s targeted killings of civilians across the world, including American citizens without any judicial procedures.
Leading academic Professor Noam Chomsky has also condemned US policy of targeting terror suspects in foreign countries using unmanned aerial vehicles, saying the tactic amounts to ”state terror”.
The US military uses assassination drones in several Muslim countries, including Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan.
Washington claims the airstrikes target militants, but the attacks have mostly led to civilian casualties.
At least five people have been killed in an air raid carried out by a US assassination drone in north Yemen, local sources say.
A tribal source said on Sunday that the strike targeted a vehicle in the Khab al-Shath area located in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf.
According to witnesses, the first aerial attack was followed by three other raids. However, they did not provide more details about the targets.
The United States has stepped up its killer drone operations in Yemen over the past few years.
On June 1, at least seven people lost their lives in a similar strike in the country’s southern province of Abyan.
In April, Yemeni National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms said unmanned US drones had conducted more than 80 air attacks in the country last year.
Washington has come under fire for increasing the drone attacks in the country, where the people have held many demonstrations to condemn the violation of Yemen’s sovereignty.
According to the Washington-based think tank, the New America Foundation, the US drone attacks in Yemen almost tripled in 2012.
US officials claim that the airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.
The US also conducts drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. (T/P05/E1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
