Clashes in southern Yemen leave 13 dead

ADEN // Eleven soldiers and two civilians were killed when the army fought gunmen in the city of Loder in south Yemen, a local security official said. Eight of the soldiers were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their armoured vehicle, Loder regional security chief Yahya al-Barkani said. A security source said the armed men involved in the firefight may belong to al Qa'eda, while another local official said the gunmen may have links with a southern separatist movement. Friday's fighting followed a two-hour clash on Thursday in Loder in which gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded two others. The fighting broke out after the assailants attacked two soldiers in the marketplace and seized their weapons, leading to the intervention of the army. South Yemen is feared to have become a base for Al-Qaeda militants to regroup, under the network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The south is also the site of frequent protests and separatist unrest with southerners complaining of discrimination by the Sanaa government over the allocation of resources. It was independent from 1967 until 1990 when it united with the north. It seceded in 1994, sparking a short-lived conflict which ended with the south bring overrun by northern troops. * Agence France-Presse