US Fears Syria Islamists Have Ties to Yemen Bomb-Makers

Holder: Threat Most Frightening Thing I've Seen

According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the Obama Administration is increasingly concerned about the Islamists in Syria forging significant ties with bomb-making experts from Yemen.

The US has been making much of the threat posed by bomb-making experts from Yemen’s al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) faction, potentially targeting aircraft in the US.

Holder said the concern centered on these bomb-makers and the large number of foreign Islamist fighters in Syria, many of them from Europe, saying it is the most frightening thing he’s seen in his time as attorney general.

The administration has warned that Islamists with EU passports might return after the Syrian Civil War with ties to international jihadists. The concern now is that they may also return with advanced bombs.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.