Despite Focus on Terror Plot, Life Goes On as Normal in Yemeni Capital

US Embassy Closed, But Eid Holiday Celebrated as Usual

In hyping the “foiled” terror plot in the nation’s southeast, Yemeni government officials have claimed major boosts to security nationwide, but in the capital city of Sanaa things really aren’t so different.

The US embassy remains closed, and there is an official “terror watch” that continues apace, but the most visible sign is the constant US surveillance planes flying overhead.

Reports from the ground in Sanaa suggest no real changes though, as locals celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday as usual and thoughts of imminent terrorist attacks of the sort that shuttered the embassy seemed a world away.

It isn’t surprising, of course, as Sanaa is far from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) operations, and while locals in Shabwa and Abyan Provinces had to duck US drone strikes for the last two weeks, the escalation hasn’t impacted the country’s northwest yet.

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.