US suspends operations at Yemen embassy

The US has suspended operations at its embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, following attacks on Western targets and unspecified information it received.

“The recent attacks against Western interests and information we have received have given us enough concern to take this precautionary step,” said Jen Psaki, the State Department spokesperson, in a statement released to the press.  

In recent months, there has been a significant uptick in covert US operations inside Yemen, according to data gathered by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Local and international media - often citing Yemeni security or military source - report that victims are suspected members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and, by implication, fair game for assassination by drone. 

Following an unprecedented series of attacks over three days in late April, there have been regular reports of Yemeni military offensives as well as apparent retaliatory attacks on Yemeni military and police.

It was unclear which attacks Psaki referenced in her statement, but gunmen launched an attack on an oil export pipeline in the province of Marib on Wednesday.

On Monday, a French national was killed in Sanaa in an attack that also wounded a Yemani and another French national. Yemeni military sources described the incident as an attack on private security guards protecting the French embassy in Sanaa.

Psaki further stated that the US will continue to monitor the situation as events unfold “and we will reopen the embassy to the public once it is deemed appropriate”.