Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility Friday for a brazen attack on a Yemeni defence complex that killed 52 people, saying it targeted the site as it hosted US personnel behind drone strikes against its militants. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the jihadist network's most dangerous affiliate, has been hit by intensified US drone strikes targeting its militants in Yemen this year. The complex was "stormed... after the mujahedeen (holy warriors) proved that it accommodates drone control rooms and American experts," AQAP said in a statement published by its media arm on Twitter. Washington condemned the attack which cames as Defence Minister Mohammed Nasser headed a military delegation on a visit to the United States.

By Emmanuel Braun and Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - France launched its second major African intervention in a year on Friday as its troops rushed to the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui, to stem violence that already claimed over 100 lives this week. France, which stamped out an advance by al Qaeda-linked insurgents on the Malian capital Bamako this year, began assembling a new 1,200-strong force for CAR just hours after winning U.N. backing to go ahead on Thursday. He said one company had arrived in Bangui from a French base in nearby Gabon, and that a helicopter group was due to be in place later in the day. He added that the night had been calm after fighting on Thursday between the mainly Muslim former rebels now in charge of the country and a mix of local Christian militiamen and other fighters loyal to ousted president Francois Bozize.