More than 150 Yemeni clerics threatened on Thursday to declare Jihad if any foreign troops enterd the Arab country to fight al-Qaeda, DPA reported.
The clerics made the warning in a statement at the conclusion of a meeting in a Sana'a mosque.
The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Abdul-Majeed al-Zindani, who is wanted by the United States over terrorism financing charges.
"It is a duty to resort to Jihad if the country is invaded by foreign troops," said the statement.
Yemen has recently come under the spotlight as a possible breeding ground for armed Islamist extremism due to its ongoing civil war and proximity to other hotbeds such as Somalia.