Pentagon officials cannot track the whereabouts of $500 million worth of military equipment the U.S. donated to Yemen since 2007 – raising alarms that the hardware may have ended up with al-Qaeda or Iranian-backed rebels.

Ever wonder how al-Qaeda and ISIS always have such advanced weaponry and military capabilities? Wonder no more! Obama gives it to them, that’s how they do it. Did you think it was a trick question?

U.S. officials said Tuesday that increasing instability in Yemen has made it impossible to keep tabs on donated equipment that includes small arms, ammunition, patrol boats and night-vision goggles, according to The Washington Post.

U.S. firearms supplied to the Interior Ministry in Yemen, which has received $500 million in aid from the United States since 2007 under an array of Defense Department and State Department programs. (Government Accountability Office)

“We have to assume it’s completely compromised and gone,” a legislative aide on Capitol Hill, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Post.

In January, Yemen’s government was overtaken by Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels. The rebels are increasingly taking over military bases.

Since then, the U.S. closed its embassy in Yemen and the Defense Department has stopped delivering equipment to the country, including a shipment of $125 million worth of military products scheduled to be delivered earlier this year.

This is the equipment no one can find, The Post reports:

• 1,250,000 rounds of ammunition
• 200 Glock 9 mm pistols
• 200 M-4 rifles
• 4 Huey II helicopters
• 2 Cessna 208 transport and surveillance aircraft
• 2 coastal patrol boats
• 1 CN-235 transport and surveillance aircraft
• 4 hand-launched Raven drones
• 160 Humvees

An al-Qaeda affiliate has threatened to kill an American hostage in three days if the U.S. government does not respond to the group’s demands, according to terrorist monitoring group Site Intelligence Group.

Luke Somers, a 33-year-old photojournalist, was abducted in 2013 in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, according to media reports. In a YouTube video published Wednesday, he says he is certain his “life is in danger.”

The video features an al-Qaeda official and a brief message from Somers – dressed in a purple shirt and with a shaved head – at the end. He notes that he was born in England but has American citizenship and lived in America for most of his life.

The al-Qaeda operative who speaks throughout much of the video and threatens that Somers will meet his “inevitable fate” if the group’s demands are not met is Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi of the Arabian Peninsula affiliate, Site Intelligence Group said. The video does not list what those demands are, but al-Ansi says Washington is “aware” of them.

“It’s now been well over a year since I’ve been kidnapped in Sanaa,” Somers said in the footage. “Basically, I’m looking for any help that can get me out of this situation. I’m certain that my life is in danger. So as I sit here now, I ask, if anything can be done, please let it be done. Thank you very much.”

Somers was kidnapped in September 2013 from a street in Sanaa, where he had worked as a photojournalist for the Yemen Times, the Associated Press said.

Read the rest of this story on USA Today…

Islamic terror groups post at least 90 tweets every minute, a new report has found

The data was revealed in a survey conducted by the Saudi-based Sakina, an independent, non-governmental organisation created to engage in dialogue online as a way to combat internet radicalization.

Results showed that terror groups such as the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front, Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State (ISIS) use social media to recruit new members and to spread their propaganda.

Abdulmunim Al-Mushawah, head of the organisation, revealed that about 129,600 tweets were posted by accounts affiliated to terror groups in October 2014. As a result, at least 500 accounts believed to have been run by terrorists were deactivated.

Al-Mushawah urged for a censorship committee to be put in place in order to monitor tweets that could be written to promote insurgents’ propaganda. “The nature of the extremist can be understood by analysing his posts, identifying his social circle and understanding his internal motives and history,” he was quoted by the Saudi Gazzette as saying.

“After understanding and recognising the type of extremist the person is, we can then follow the appropriate method of dialogue knowing that it is a lengthy and complicated process at times.

“The responsibility of protecting the general public from terrorist activities does not only lie with the official directorates. It is also the responsibility of the media, mosques and educational institutes,” he continued.

“Public awareness and guidance are the campaign’s top priorities because it is important to teach people how to face one problem without creating another.”