High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown began in 2001 and escalated on January 14, 2010 when Yemen declared open war on al Qaeda. In addition to fighting against al Qaeda in several provinces, Yemen is also battling a northern Shi'ite insurgency and trying to contain separatists in the south. Yemen has come under pressure to act against al Qaeda since attacks on its two main allies, Saudi Arabia and the United States, by militants coming from Yemeni soil. Previous attacks linked to al Qaeda in Yemen include the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, the 2008 American Embassy attack, and several attacks against foreign tourists. Yemen had already intensified operations against al Qaeda in late 2009 when a Yemen-based wing of the group claimed to be behind the failed December 25, 2009 attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. News reports have indicated substantial American involvement in Yemeni operations against al Qaeda since late 2009, includingtraining, intelligence sharing, and "several dozen troops" from the Joint Special Operations Command.