Yemeni army foil attack on police center

The Yemeni army thwarted an attempt by two al-Qaida militants to attack a police center with hand grenades in the southern province of Abyan early on Thursday, a military official told Xinhua."The armed forces managed to foil a potentially devastating attack on the police center in Abyan's town of Jaar and captured two al-Qaida terrorists with hand grenades," the local military official said on condition of anonymity."Police and intelligence officers in the center were the target of the botched attack," the source said.A local government official confirmed the incident and accused the attack against the police headquarters.Yemeni security services have repeatedly blamed militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot for a series of assassinations and terrorist attacks, mostly in the country's southern regions.The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which emerged in January 2009, is considered the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and its neighboring oil-rich Saudi Arabia.The AQAP underscores the challenges faced by Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who came to power after winning support from major Yemeni political forces in February 2012.Hadi is tasked with restoring security and stability to Yemen and putting an end to growing influence of al-Qaida that also threatens daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.