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By Associated Press, April 21, 2012
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s military regained part of a strategic southern
city on Saturday after an intense battle with al-Qaida militants left 19 people
dead as the government tries to purge the insurgents from their strongholds,
officials said.
The battle in Zinjibar is part of attempts by the Yemeni government to
regain parts of the country it lost to al-Qaida militants who took advantage of
last year’s chaotic uprising against longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize
new ground.
Military and medical officials said that 12 militants and seven troops
died and nearly 30 militants were injured during the battle with Yemeni forces,
who took control of the eastern part of Zinjibar.
The coastal city is the capital of Abyan province, and driving al-Qaida
out of it would loosen al-Qaida’s grip over Yemen’s southern territories. The
city also lies near key shipping lanes through which millions of barrels of oil
pass every day.
The militants buried their dead in the nearby town of Jaar and turned a
kindergarten there into a field hospital to treat their injured, medical
officials said. The school was also being used as a command center by the
militants, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
speak to the media.
In Lawder, another town in Abyan province, at least 250 al-Qaida
militants and 37 government soldiers have been killed in two weeks of fighting,
the defense ministry said Friday. Yemeni forces are trying to repel efforts by
al-Qaida militants to regain control over the town which it lost last summer
when residents took up arms and pushed the militants out.
On Saturday the ministry said it is sending more troops to the south in
a sign of the intensifying fight there.
The war on al-Qaida is one of the most challenging tests facing the
country’s new president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. He took power after Saleh
stepped down in February as part of power-transfer deal brokered by Arab Gulf
countries and backed by the United States.
The U.S. believes al-Qaida’s Yemeni branch is the most dangerous arm of
the terror group because of its repeated attempts to carry out attacks in the
United States.
The power-transfer deal gave Saleh immunity from prosecution in return
for relinquishing power, although his party still holds half of all government
ministries. He has also remained in the country instead of going into exile as
was anticipated.
After taking over, Hadi pledged to restructure the Yemeni military to
better fight al-Qaida, but he’s been facing stiff resistance from loyalists to
Saleh and family members who are still at the top of key military and security
positions.
The opposition has accused Saleh of using his men to try to undermine
his successor in a bid to return to office.
On Saturday his son Ahmed, who commands the Republican Guard forces,
deployed his troops to the airport in the capital of Sanaa and occupied parts
of the facility, officials there said. The show of defiance came after Hadi
ordered the ouster of Saleh’s half brother and the Air Force Chief Commander
Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar two weeks ago. The initial firing also sparked protests
by al-Ahmar’s supporters who rolled tanks and armored vehicles onto the tarmac
and forced authorities to cancel flights before the situation was resolved.
Officials said the airport’s operations were not affected by Saturday’s
developments.
