Yemen's Al Qaeda to set up 12,000-fighter army

The Yemen-based Al Qaeda wing was about to lay down the foundation stone of an army of 12,000 fighters dubbed "Aden-Abyan Army" in south Yemen, the group's military commander Kasim al-Raimy Monday said in an audiotape posted on jihadist forums.

The Aden-Abyan Army "would be the front line for defending the Islamic nations and its religion, and liberating them from crusaders and their apostate agents," al-Raimy said.

In the 14 minutes speech, al-Raimy asked Islamic nations, especially the Yemeni people, to provide the army with financial support and equipment.

On July 29, Xinhua had obtained an audio recording from the jihadist websites, in which Yemen's Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) declared it was preparing to build an army of 12, 000 fighters in the country's south in order to fight the Yemeni security and intelligence agents.

Mohamed Saied al-Omda, field commander of the AQAP, said in the recording that "we have a good news for the Islamic nation, that an army of 12,000 fighters was being prepared in Aden and Abyan."

"By this army, we will establish an Islamic Caliphate," said Saied al-Omda, also known as Gharib al-Taizy, referring to the restive southern province of Abyan and the port city of Aden.

He added "this is a message to the Yemeni government security and the national security service that our swords are ready and we are resolved to cleanse the land."

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Al Qaeda network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified its fight against terrorist groups after the Yemen-based Al Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger plane bound for Detroit last year.