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Wed Jun 13, 2012
By Mohammed Mukhashaf
JAAR, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemeni
government forces are poised to capture a southern coastal town from al
Qaeda-linked insurgents who fled there after the army drove them out of two
other cities, Yemen's defence minister said on Wednesday.
But Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda
offshoot, vowed to spread the war across Yemen after it was forced to abandon
the strongholds of Zinjibar and Jaar on Tuesday, according to the SITE
Intelligence Group which monitors militant websites.
Yemeni Defence Minister Mohammed
Nasser Ahmed, touring the ruined city of Zinjibar said getting al Qaeda out of
the south was a priority for the Yemeni army.
Asked about the coastal city of
Shaqra, where militants fled after quitting Zinjibar and Jaar, the minister
said:
"It will be over within
hours."
Emboldened by waning government
control over the impoverished country during last year's popular protests that
ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, militants seized Jaar in March
2011, before occupying Zinjibar and Shaqra.
U.S. officials say President
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi - who came to power in February after Saleh signed a
power transfer deal brokered by Gulf states - is more cooperative in the fight
against Islamist militancy than his predecessor.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP) is believed to be the most active branch of the global network and has
plotted a number of botched attempts against U.S. targets.
The group threatened to spread the
fight all over Yemen.
"The battle had been far away
from your palaces and administration, but you believed the falsehoods of
American policy, and their money has made you arrogant," according to the
SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.
"As for us, this has been a
year of preparation for the leaders, experts, and martyrdom-seekers, so await
the battle in your palaces. The Americans will not help you any longer,"
it added.
The recapture of Jaar and Zinjibar
was the army's most significant victory against the militants in more than a
year of political turmoil that has taken Yemen to the brink of civil war and
fuelled fears about al Qaeda's presence in a neighbour of Saudi Arabia, the world's
top oil exporter.
Some residents of the two wrecked
cities began to return to their homes on Wednesday.
Jaar residents, many of whom
stayed throughout the fighting that destroyed large parts of the city of some
100,000, said they were awaiting the return of water and electricity services
cut off during the offensive.
"The situation is bad. There
is no money, no electricity and no water," one resident who declined to be
identified said.
In the town of Azzan, northeast of
Shaqra, two airstrikes targeted a building and two vehicles belonging to
militants, killing at least 27 fighters, a senior Yemeni official said.
It was not immediately clear if
Wednesday's strikes were carried out by Yemeni warplanes or U.S. drones. One
local official in Azzan said at least one strike was by a drone.
Washington has repeatedly used
drones to target Yemeni militants in order to try to contain a threat it has
been urging the government to take more seriously.
Ansar al-Sharia said in a
statement that U.S. drones had launched five attacks in Azzan on Wednesday
morning, but denied any of its fighters had been killed or wounded.
