U.S., Yemen Agree To Restart Controversial Military-Training Program

March 8, 2012 by Personal Liberty News Desk

U.S. and Yemeni officials have agreed to restart a controversial military-training program to help the Arab nation’s new President tackle the al-Qaida militants that exist in the country, The Wall Street Journalreported.

According to the news outlet, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has openly turned to the U.S. as part of an attempt to get the upper hand over the terrorist group. However, this move may have a key drawback – upsetting the political balance of power in the country and making the overhaul of the nation’s security forces more complicated.

Dozens of U.S. special operations forces that are already in the country are set to resume their training of counterterrorism forces. This restart occurs after a lull last year amid a wave of new sophisticated assaults by the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida and loosely linked jihadi groups, the Journal reported.

Reuters reported that the presence of U.S. troops in Yemen has already allegedly led to the attack of an American intelligence officer, as al-Qaida said on an Islamist website that the action came as a result of the rising number of troops entering the nation.