A Yemeni army patrol operates at a checkpoint on the main road leading to the diplomatic quarter where many foreign embassies are located, in San'a, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Yemen showed signs of friction Tuesday with the United States over the fight against al-Qaida, insisting it has the terror group under control, as the U.S. Embassy in San'a ended a two-day closure.
Government officials said security forces had been sent to Shabwa, Maarib and Abyan, lawless regions in the east and south where the presence of al-Qaeda's local affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, is strongest.
The group has been the subject of increased international attention since taking responsibility for a failed attempt to blow a US airliner on Christmas Day.
Security operations were also launched in the capital city, Sana'a, where the immediate threat of a terrorist strike against Western diplomatic missions appeared to have receded after two suspected al-Qaeda members were killed in a mission north of the city on Monday.
The US embassy, which closed for two days after saying it had received credible information of an imminent terror attack, reopened. The British and French missions resumed work, although their doors remained closed to the public.
Although the main target of Monday's operation escaped, the US embassy said it had "addressed a specific area of concern".
But in a sign that concerns had not entirely dissipated, it added: "The threat of terrorist attacks against American interests remains high."
Tuesday's decision to deploy troops into al-Qaeda heartland seemed partly designed to deflect growing international concerns that the Yemeni government was too frail, corrupt and inept to counter the growing terrorist presence in the country.
That perception was heightened on Monday when Yemeni security forces surveillance teams lost track of six lorries filled with weapons as they entered Sana'a, although diplomatic sources suggested that the illicit cargo was probably not destined for al-Qaeda.
Angered by the criticism, the Yemeni government has insisted that portrayals of the country as an increasing attractive haven for Islamist terrorists are "over exaggerated". It also attacked the decisions of Britain, France and the United States to close their embassies, saying "there is nothing to be worried about."
Many observers have questioned the Yemeni government's ability to quash al-Qaeda's activities on its territory.
In recent years, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, has centralised power in the hands of his family – his son, three nephews and a half-brother hold top positions in the security apparatus.
But critics say that in doing so, he has sacrificed control of large swathes of his country to tribal leaders. The system of patronage he once wielded to control the more lawless parts of his country has all but disintegrated as oil reserves have dwindled, damaging his ability to purchase the loyalty of tribal regions.
In the three provinces where Mr Saleh is now deploying troops, tribal leaders have switched their loyalty to al-Qaeda, which brought cash and teachers with it when it moved in. As a result, government security presence has been all but invisible in the past three years.
At the same time, al-Qaeda's presence in Yemen has been bolstered by the arrival of Islamist extremists from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan following successful counterterrorism operations.
With the Yemeni government also fighting rebels in the north and secessionists in the south, al-Qaeda has been able to take advantage of the lawlessness to entrench itself further.
Observers say the United States has been unable take too visible a role in counterterrorism operations due to the risk of further increasing support for al-Qaeda in a country where distrust of the West runs high.
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