SANAA — The Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda said on Monday, Oct. 14, its attack on a Yemeni army base last month targeted an operations room used by the United States to direct drone strikes against militants, and it threatened more such assaults.

Dozens of militants stormed and captured the headquarters of the Yemeni army’s Second Division in the eastern coastal city of al-Mukalla on September 30 and took some military personnel hostage. Military officials said four Yemeni soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a counter-strike to retake the base.

A Yemeni official denied that the army base contained a joint U.S.-Yemeni operations room, saying its task was to prevent piracy in nearby Arabian Sea lanes.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is regarded by the United States as one of the most active wings of the militant network, posing a serious threat to Western interests including oil tanker traffic.

AQAP said Yemen had turned a number of its military facilities in recent years into “intelligence and operations rooms to direct the war against the Mujahideen (holy fighters) and operate pilotless planes.”

“The Mujahideen have directed a harsh blow to one of these headquarters,” it said in a message posted on Shumukh al-Islam, an Islamist website, referring to the September 30 attack.

“Such joint security targets, which participate with the Americans in their war on the Muslim people, are a legitimate target for our operations, and we will puncture these eyes that the enemy uses.”

It said that dozens of officers were killed in the three-day assault and the operations room was destroyed. AQAP made no mention of any Americans present in the facility and there were no reports of foreigners killed in the attack.