Six 'Qaeda', three Yemen troops killed in clashes

Authorities said they also prevented three suicide car attacks.

Yemeni tribesmen chant slogans during a tribal meeting to show their support for Gaza and anti-terror in Bani Al Harith area on the outskirts of Sanaa on August 17. Hani Mohammed / AP Photo

ADEN, YEMEN // Six Al Qaeda militants and three Yemeni troops died in clashes on Sunday in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, scene of frequent attacks on the army.

“At dawn, armed forces bombarded a house where Al Qaeda fighters had barricaded themselves in, killing three of them and wounding others,” a security official said.

The body of a fourth militant was later found in the house in the Hadramawt town of Qatan, along with four people who were arrested, a military source said.

He said the people arrested were two men, a Yemeni and a Somali, and two women, a Pakistani and a Filipina.

Responding to the army’s action, other militants attacked an army position in Qatan, sparking a shoot-out.

“Three soldiers were killed and six wounded during four hours of fighting,” said a town official. “Two of the attackers died and four were wounded.”

Weapons of various calibre were used in the skirmish and several nearby homes were damaged.

On Thursday, a policeman and two militants died in clashes in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt.

Authorities in the city said they had prevented three suicide car bomb attacks against an official residence, a police barracks and another police site.

The defence ministry said it had “thwarted a dangerous criminal plan by Al Qaeda” in Mukalla.

On Saturday night, gunmen riding motor bikes shot and killed two Yemeni men in separate attacks in the southern province of Lahij, a security source said yesterday, blaming Al Qaeda for the murders.

The source said militants carry out such attacks, accusing the victims of practising witchcraft.

To deal with the growing number of attacks attributed to Al Qaeda militants, the army has stepped up its deployment and is set to launch an offensive against the extremists.

AlQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by Washington as the most dangerous affiliate of the terror network, is active across several parts of Yemen, taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

* Agence France-Presse