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Publish date6 Jan 2013 - 9:19
Story Code : 119829

Saudi Arabia denies aiding US drone mission in Yemen

Saudi Arabia has denied press reports that its air force has assisted the United States in its assassination operations in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia denies aiding US drone mission in Yemen
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday that the country’s fighter jets had not attacked al-Qaeda targets in Yemen.

“This is not true,” he told reporters in Riyadh, without elaborating further.

On January 4, the UK newspaper Times quoted a US intelligence source as saying that some of the drone missions in Yemen were actually carried out by the Saudi Air Force.

It is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has deployed warplanes into the Yemeni skies.

In 2009, Saudi troops and fighter jets were actively involved in Yemen’s military crackdown on Houthi Shias in northern Yemen.

However, the latest revelation is feared to complicate the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government and the influential tribal leaders controlling large parts of Yemen, including areas where members of al-Qaeda are reportedly holed in.

Yemen has been the scene of CIA-operated drone strikes over the past months. Washington claims the airstrikes target militants, but local officials and witnesses say civilians are the main victims.

Some reports say US assassination drone operations in the country nearly tripled in 2012 compared with the previous year.

The United States also carries out terror drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. /SR
https://taghribnews.com/vdcj8hevhuqevoz.92fu.html
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