Aden: Western diplomatic missions in Yemen heightened security measures on Thursday after increasingly bold attacks on foreigners by Al Qaida even as its militants have lost ground to an army offensive in the country’s largely lawless south.

The government’s offensive is the most concerted campaign against Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — seen by Washington as one of the group’s most lethal wings — in nearly two years. The group has been blamed for deadly attacks against security forces, foreigners and oil and gas facilities.

Keen to prevent about any spillover of violence into neighbouring oil power Saudi Arabia and the use of Yemen as a springboard for attacks on Western targets, government forces announced they had entered the last major militant bastion, Azzan, that they had been seeking to capture in an offensive that has lasted 10 days.

The European Union has limited its presence in Yemen to essential staff and France has restricted the movement of its diplomats, the EU and Paris said on Thursday after the United States announced the suspension of operations in its embassy.

“The EU delegation remains fully operational. Like other diplomatic and international actors in Sana’a, we are limiting the presence to essential staff and reviewing our security measures,” said Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

A spokeswoman for France’s Foreign Ministry said its security level in Yemen was at maximum level.

“There is heightened vigilance ... Following the recent events we have introduced a restriction of movement for diplomats. We are evaluating the situation but (embassy closure) is not a decision we have taken,” she said.

The United States said late on Wednesday it had suspended operations in its embassy in Sana’a because of recent attacks against Western interests in the country.

 

Travel alert

Britain’s Foreign Office issued a new travel alert on Thursday, advising against all travel to Yemen and strongly urging British nationals to leave the Arabian Peninsula state.

The West’s precautionary security moves followed increasingly bold Al Qaida attacks on Yemeni government and foreign targets in big cities, even after the offensive against militants in remote reaches of south Yemen was launched.

A French security agent was shot dead on Monday, the latest in a string of assassinations and kidnappings of Westerners in the capital Sana’a and second city Aden. The state news agency Saba reported that Yemen’s defence minister was in Azzan and a celebration of the army’s victory was taking place.

Major powers are keen on Yemen curbing the Islamist insurgents and restoring order in the south to prevent threats to the world’s No. 1 oil exporter Saudi Arabia next door. AQAP is one of Al Qaida’s most active branches and has a record of hatching attacks against international airliners.

Yemeni security forces on Wednesday killed a prominent militant suspected of masterminding attacks on Westerners, including a French security agent gunned down on Tuesday, the country’s supreme security committee said.