http://www.english.hadhramaut.info The fight against terrorism in Yemen will remain its security forces responsibility, Yemen says [The Source: SANA'A/hadhramaut.infor/sabanews.net - 26/08/2010]  Successful operations of the counter-terrorism forces in fighting al-Qaeda have demonstrated the capacity and efficiency of the Yemeni security forces, an official source said on Thursday. "The Yemeni security forces have succeeded in addressing terrorist elements and counter-terrorism", the source added, renewing Yemen's commitment that the fight against terrorism in the country will remain the responsibility of the Yemeni security services. The source denied the validity of the leaks by some U.S. and western media which inflated the size of the al-Qaeda and the threat it poses to the stability, security of Yemen as well as the interests of brotherly and friendly countries."With the support of brotherly and friendly countries, the Yemeni forces are able to assume full responsibility for the elimination of al-Qaeda elements. The Yemeni forces have achieved successes in this area".The source pointed out that the recent leaks campaign may be related to midterm elections in the United States, noting that they would not affect Yemen's policy in the fight against terrorism or its ways to cooperate with the international community in this field without prejudice to the sovereignty, constitution and laws of Yemen.The security forces countered on Tuesday the terrorist elements bravely and killed 12 of them and injured others, affirming that they cleared Lawdar district in Abyan province fully from the terrorist elements and are currently pursuing the rest of the fugitive elements out of the district. A number of al-Qaeda elements began to surrender after cracking down on them by the security agencies.Interior Ministry has urged its security forces to lift vigilance and tighten security measures to counter any terrorist and criminal acts. The Ministry directed its personnel to take tough security measures against terrorist and criminal elements in some provinces of the country where terrorist elements are expected to carry out acts of sabotage there.These directions were renewed one day after fierce clashes took place in Abyan between government soldiers and al-Qaeda members, killing 11 soldiers and 7 al-Qaeda members.The Ministry said that massive hunt-down operations are underway to arrest the perpetrators and present them to justice, emphasizing the need to strengthen the security measures for protecting vital facilities and security and military institutions in the six provinces. It stressed the importance of taking precautions in various security checkpoints in order to arrest the most wanted terrorist suspects and the need to keep the security units on alert and ready to face all possible eventualities and counter any acts of sabotage.