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TOKYO (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter is warning that an al-Qaida branch is making "great gains" on the ground in Yemen amid the chaos there. And he says the U.S. will have to re-think how it prevents the group from launching attacks in the West.
Carter is in Tokyo, to work on strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance.
He says the collapse of the central government in Yemen makes it harder to conduct counterterrorism operations against the group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
The group is known to have ambitions to strike Western targets, including the United States.
Carter says as Shiite rebels advance in Yemen, the al-Qaida branch is taking advantage of the disorder to seize territory.
He says the U.S. is providing intelligence, surveillance and "some resupply of equipment and munitions" to Saudi Arabia, which has launched airstrikes against the rebels in neighboring Yemen.
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APPHOTO TOK310: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter walks on his way to meet Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The first revision of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines in 17 years will "transform" the bilateral alliance, U.S. Defense Secretary Carter said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Franck Robichon, Pool) (8 Apr 2015)
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APPHOTO TOK308: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left, shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the start of their meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The first revision of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines in 17 years will "transform" the bilateral alliance, U.S. Defense Secretary Carter said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Franck Robichon, Pool) (8 Apr 2015)
<<APPHOTO TOK308 (04/08/15)££
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