Two French citizens arrested in Yemen may have ties to Paris attacks
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Reporting from Sana, Yemen — Two French citizens arrested in Yemen are believed to have links to the Paris attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, according to top Yemeni security officials.
Ali Ahmadi, chairman of Yemen’s national security unit, said authorities were investigating the pair, who appear to have links to Al Qaeda.
Ahmadi estimated that about 1,000 foreign fighters from about a dozen nations in Europe, Africa and Asia are among the Al Qaeda-related militants in Yemen.
“Large numbers of terrorists managed to infiltrate ... Yemen due to long marine and land borders that cannot be monitored,” he said. “Some of these terrorists may pass through Yemen and when they carry [out] attacks they attribute [them] to Yemen. Yemen is not a source or a spring of terrorism but rather a victim of it.”
Ali is a special correspondent.
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