Yemenis annoyed at U.S. focus on beheading Al Qaeda, rather than development

Yemenis have appealed the United States to start dealing with bigger problems of the country that are the root cause of empowering the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

A surgeon in Yemen said that the U.S. has to deal with the problems through development, education and more effective governance, rather than the use of military force alone, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Earlier last week, Washington had declared a terror alert of an imminent attack in Yemen by AQAP amid intercepted communications between Al Qaeda leaders.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has not paid heed to the increasing complaints about spy planes and drone strikes on suspected Al Qaeda targets, which have claimed the lives of many Yemenis.

Development and employment opportunities have not been considered in Yemen from quite sometime now.

According to the report, unemployment in Yemen has been estimated at 35 percent, while the United Nations ranks Yemen 151st out of 177 countries according to its Human Development Index (HDI).

It also questions the central government's weak hold over the AQAP, arousing security concerns in the country.

They blame the U.S. government for focusing on AQAP to the extent that the economic and governance issues have got neglected, which have led to increased militantcy in the region.

It has been alleged that prominent militants, like top AQAP bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri, barely get targeted even if they pose the greatest danger to the region.

Analysts said that the U.S. drone strikes also don't make much of a difference to the top-notch leaders because the ones that get killed are just foot soldiers.