Five Yemeni soldiers were killed in fresh fighting Thursday with alleged Al-Qaeda militants in the restive southern city of Zinjibar, a military official told AFP. “Five soldiers were killed and six others were wounded in heavy fighting with Al-Qaeda militants in Zinjibar’s east,” the source said, adding that there were also “deaths and injuries in the ranks of the enemy.” A medical official in the nearby city of Aden confirmed the toll.
Battles have raged since Wednesday in the area surrounding Al-Wahda stadium on the outskirts of Zinjibar, most of which fell to the Islamists a month ago. The army on Thursday fired artillery shells at the stadium and “managed to regain its control over it,” said the official. Forty-eight people, including 30 soldiers and four civilians, were killed in the Wednesday fighting. The latest violence has raised the army death toll to at least 135 troops killed since the militants, who call themselves Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), seized control of most of Zinjibar on May 29.
The military official renewed his calls for tribes in the Abyan province — of which Zinjibar is the capital — “to join in the fight against Al-Qaeda.” “Al-Qaeda militants will not dare kill the tribesmen because they know they will retaliate,” said the official. The Sanaa government says the Islamist fighters are allied with Al-Qaeda but the opposition accuses the government of playing up a jihadist threat in a desperate attempt to keep embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power. Yemen’s official Saba news agency reported on Monday that the security services had thwarted an Al-Qaeda plot to attack vital installations in Aden and had arrested six suspects.
The country is the home of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, an affiliate of the global network accused of anti-US plots, including an attempt to blow up a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day 2009. President Saleh had been a key US ally the US “war on terror” but has faced mass protests against his rule since January. He is currently receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for blast wounds he sustained in bomb attack inside the presidential palace. Protesters have been camped out in the capital Sanaa demanding the formation of an interim ruling council to prevent his return to power.
