Four killed in south Yemen attacks

November 10, 2011

ADEN: Two dissident soldiers and two policemen were killed overnight in separate attacks in the country's restive south, army and security officials said on Thursday.

"A landmine planted by Al-Qaeda militants exploded Wednesday overnight killing two soldiers from the 119th Brigade commanded by dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar," an army official told AFP.

The general leads the First Armoured Brigade protecting anti-regime protesters in Sanaa.

The attack took place in the southern city of Zinjibar in Abyan province, where dissident troops alongside pro-government forces are battling extremists.

Hundreds of militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) group are in Abyan since they overran the provincial capital Zinjibar and adjacent towns in May.

Separately, gunmen shot dead two policemen in the southern port city of Mukala, in Hadramawt province.

"Unknown gunmen opened fire late on Wednesday killing two policemen and wounding another before fleeing," a security official said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken advantage of 11 months of deadly protests against Yemen's veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh to bolster its presence not only in Abyan, but also in nearby Marib and Shebwa provinces.