Washington, December 29: The man accused of trying to blow up an airliner over Detroit has claimed he was just one of a string of recruits trained in Yemen and poised to attack, as the regional wing of al-Qa’ida said last night that it was behind the failed Christmas Day bombing.
In an online statement, al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – believed to be an alliance of militants based in Saudi Arabia and Yemen – said it had armed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with an explosive device in retaliation for a crackdown on the group.
Yemeni forces, helped by US intelligence, carried out two airstrikes against al-Qa’ida operatives in the country this month – the second just a day before the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
–Agencies