Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior General Hussein Arab uncovered on Friday that his ministry seized large quantities of dangerous weapons in several southern Yemeni cities, adding that extremist terrorist groups had brought and hidden those arms in a number of residential units, which were later transformed into armed caches.
The interior minister did not say where those depots were specifically located and how many people were involved in the operation.
However, General Arab told Asharq Al-Awsat there were large quantities of seized weapons that could destroy vast areas.
He said the terrorists “set the target and the type of weapons that should be used… If the target is a vast area, they increase the explosives to produce the highest damages.”
The interior minister said that investigations revealed the presence of several dormant cells, directly supported by rebels in Sana’a with an aim to incite security imbalance and to disrupt the Yemeni community.
The Yemeni security apparatuses are ready to face those threats and would use all means to uncover the terrorists’ plots, he said.
The minister added that “employees at the Yemeni Interior Ministry launch their investigations based on available information… Accordingly, they conduct dawn raids after they verify that those given information confirm the presence of threatening weapons.”
The seizure of the arms depots comes few days after the Interior Ministry was capable to arrest several Qaeda-affiliated members and groups loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The ministry also uncovered their plans to target critical sites in areas previously liberated by the legitimate government.
Arab said the security apparatus in Yemen was coordinating with all concerned parties in neighboring countries to share information related to those terrorist groups.
In mid-August, the Yemeni Interior Ministry was capable to arrest terrorist groups that were directly financed by Tehran.
