12 al-Qaeda militants killed in air strike in Abyan

By Fatik al-Rodaini

SANA'A, April 11, 2012- At least 12 al-Qaeda militants were killed on Wednesday afternoon in an air strike in Yemen's southern province of Abyan.

Sources said that an air strike conducted by the Yemeni forces took-out a car believed to be carrying al-Qaeda militants between Lawdar and Amaen cities, killing all passengers.

Yemeni government soldiers backed by tribesmen battled al-Qaeda militants in a third day of clashes in heavy fighting killing at least 31 people.

The clashes took place at Jebel Yasuf district, some 10 km from the town of Lawdar, where dozens of people have been killed since Monday, raising the death toll from three days of clashes to at least 158.

Yemen's Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had destroyed a number of checkpoints set up by militants on a main road linking Lawdar to the neighboring province of Al-Bayda, re-opening the route.

The ministry mentioned that Saudi Arabian, Pakistani and Somali nationals were among the militants killed in the Lawdar area.

On Tuesday at least eight soldiers were killed and four others wounded during an attack at an army checkpoint by armed men believed to be al-Qaeda militants in Yemen’s eastern province of Mareb.

According to analysts, al-Qaeda in Yemen is considered a serious and growing threat for Yemeni government and for the United States.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi vowed to fight al Qaeda and its affiliates when he took office earlier this year after his predecessor quit under pressure from anti-government protesters and foreign powers anxious to halt a slide into mayhem.

Militants have since stepped up their operations against the army, carrying out a string of deadly attacks that have cast a long shadow over the country's first months post-Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In return, the Yemeni air force has launched air strikes on suspected militant strongholds and the United States has joined in with drones.

The United States and Saudi Arabia - both targets of al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing - fear Yemen is becoming a major front in its campaign against the militant network, which has been dealt a number of blows over the past year, not least the killing of its founder and leader Osama bin Laden. 

Entrepreneur from Ibb killed in Aden

By Fatik al-Rodaini

SANA'A, April 10, 2012- According to a security official in Aden, a person from Ibb was killed on Tuesday evening by armed men in Yemen's southern sea port of Aden.

The official said that unknown gunmen opened fire on Ameen Al-Bakheti while he was driving his car in Sheikh Othman district killing him immediately.

Al-Bakheti is originally from Ibb province and he is working in Aden as an entrepreneur.

The incident could be carried out by militants belonged to Southern Movement which seeks independence from the north.

In 2010 three separatists intercepted four sweet dealers in Habeel Jabr district of Lahj province, killing a father, one of his two sons and his brother-in-law.

Yemen clashes: 127 killed in 2 days, officials say

Apr. 10, 2012

Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen -- Heavy clashes overnight between al-Qaida-linked militants and the Yemeni military in the country's south have killed 63 people, bringing the two-day death toll in the fighting to 127, army officials said Tuesday.

The latest fighting points to escalating hostilities between the government and militants linked to the terror network who have sought to take advantage of the turmoil roiling the country since a popular uprising began early last year against longtime authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. The militants seized control of towns in the lawless south and staged attacks against government troops there and elsewhere in the impoverished Arab nation.

The military officials said the fighting that broke out in the town of Lawder in Abyan province early Monday spilled over into Tuesday, with the army shelling militant hideouts in an effort to prevent them from sending reinforcements.

They said 56 militants, four soldiers and three tribal fighters were killed overnight and early Tuesday.

Fighting also erupted Tuesday along the border of Shabwa and Marib provinces, where militants ambushed an army post. Eight soldiers and three militants were killed in that attack, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Al-Qaida was once present in Lawder, but in July residents drove them out. A few months later al-Qaida was blamed for planting a roadside bomb that killed two civilians there, and, as Monday's attack demonstrates, they continue to try to regain their foothold.

For the militants, Lawder is a strategic city. It lies along a major highway that links Abyan's provincial capital of Zinjibar, an al-Qaida stronghold, to the provinces of Hadramawt, Bayda and Shabwa where the group is active.

The area is now a patchwork of government- and militant-controlled towns.

Inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere, Yemen's popular uprising forced Saleh out of office in February. His successor and former deputy, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was later rubber-stamped as president in a single-candidate nationwide vote that was part of a power transfer deal backed by the U.S. and Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia.

Washington hopes that Hadi can bolster the government's authority and make good on his pledges to fight al-Qaida. But in addition to his war with the militants, he also faces a challenge from Saleh loyalists and a crippled economy.

Yemen unrest: Eleven killed in army checkpoint attack

April 10, 2012

At least eight soldiers and three militants have been killed in an attack by militants on an army checkpoint in central Yemen, officials say.

Gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on the checkpoint in Maarib province, about 300km (186 miles) east of the capital Sanaa, just after dawn.

Several soldiers were also hurt in the attack, which was blamed on al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, more than 120 people are now said to have been killed in 48 hours of fighting in the province of Abyan.

The death toll includes more than 100 militants, 14 soldiers and eight tribesmen who were part of a local committee formed to fight al-Qaeda.

The clashes are centred on the town of Lawdar, which sources say is being besieged by militants from groups linked to al-Qaeda. On Monday, a nearby army barracks was attacked by members of Ansar al-Sharia.

The group later claimed it had captured a large cache of weapons and ammunition, including four tanks and anti-aircraft guns during the fighting.

On Tuesday warplanes bombed two sites held by the militants west of Lawdar, destroying one of the tanks, residents told the Reuters news agency. Six militants and two pro-government tribesmen died in the clashes.

Islamist militants seized large amounts of territory in Abyan during the political turmoil that led to President Ali Abdullah Saleh handing over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, in November.

Troops have suffered major losses trying to push them out.

Dozens of al-Qaeda militants killed in Yemen

SANA'A, April 09 (Saba) - An official source said on Monday that more than 40 al-Qaeda militants were killed in clashes with the military forces in Lawder city, Abyan governorate.

The source said that the military forces drove the militants off the city after they tried to storm Lauder.

It added that the forces are currently tracking those elements of the terrorist al-Qaeda.