Officials in Yemen claimed this week that the leader of an Al Qaeda cell in the country was killed in a firefight with Yemini security forces, the BBC reported today.

Sana'a's Old City, Yemen. Photo Credit: Eesti

The alleged leader, Abdullah Mehdar, was killed after security forces besieged the house he and other militants were hiding in; the other militants escaped, the BBC reported.

Since the Christmas Day plot and the allegation that the suspected bomber was trained and equipped in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula nation has increasingly been in the international spotlight. But, say some analysts, the Yemeni government is using the war on terror and fight against Al Qaeda as a shell game, using the international attention and foreign aid to bolster its regime and to silence opponents, The Telegraph reported Monday.

“The regime is exploiting the war against al-Qaeda to attract foreign aid and curb the opposition,” anthropologist Franck Mermier told the paper. “It is in the interests of the regime … to play the al-Qaeda card to silence its opponents.”

At the same time, journalist advocacy organization, Reporters Without Borders, has also claimed that Yemen’s escalating crack down on terrorism has translated into a crack down on journalists, as well.

Within Yemen, top officials have increasingly highlighted the “heavy price” Yemen had paid as terrorist cells continue to blossom in and around the country, local paper The Yemen Times reported. According to the paper, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs Rashad al-Alimi said very publicly recently that Yemen has suffered immeasurable economic damage as a result of terrorist organizations, and welcoming US and UK support in Yemen’s fight against terrorists.

Yemen