Al Qaeda In Yemen Has Acquired 'Surface-To-Air Missiles'

SA-7 anti-aircraft surface-to-air missiles for sale

The Independent: Yemen conflict: Al-Qaeda ‘used surface-to-air missile’ to bring down Emirati fighter jet

Exclusive: Terror group’s acquisition of sophisticated weaponry raises the stakes in the country’s bitter civil war, and causes consternation in Washington

Al-Qaeda has acquired sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, The Independent has learned, which were used to shoot down an Emirati fighter jet in a dangerous escalation of the civil war raging in Yemen.

A French-made Mirage jet, flying in the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), crashed into a mountain side just outside the southern port city of Aden on 14 March. Authorities claimed that the crash was “the result of a technical malfunction”, but sources dispute this, claiming that the jet was shot down with Russian munitions. The incident raises the spectre of other jihadist branches accessing sophisticated surface-to-air missiles in Syria, Iraq and further afield.

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Update: Report: Al Qaeda in Yemen Starts Using Surface-to-Air Missiles (Jewish Press)

WNU Editor: I guess this explains why the U.S. has recently intensified its bombing campaign against Al Qaeda groups in Yemen .... US Airstrike Kills More Than 70 At An 'Al Qaeda Camp' In Yemen.