Yemeni warplanes bomb al-Qaida camp, 3 killed

Map of Yemen showing Abyan governorate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- At least three al-Qaida members were killed Thursday afternoon when warplanes bombed their training camp in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, an army officer told Xinhua.

More than three air strikes hit an abandoned al-Qaida training camp in Mahfad town in Abyan province, leaving at least three members of the terrorist group killed and five others injured, the local army officer said on condition of anonymity.

"Warplanes of the Yemeni air forces dropped about six bombs on the al-Qaida base... Initial reports show that three terrorists were killed," the army officer said.

The Yemeni military said earlier in the day that its troops have arrested four al-Qaida militants while they were heading to neighboring Aden province to carry out terror attacks there.

The captured al-Qaida militants had been taken to the 25th Mechanized Army Brigade for further investigation, the country's Defense Ministry said in a brief text message obtained by Xinhua.

Backed by the United States and oil-rich Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government waged a month-long intensive offensive in May against hundreds of al-Qaida militants, recapturing several villages and towns seized by the insurgents in the southern Abyan province last year.

Local military and anti-terrorism experts said that the Yemen- based al-Qaida branch still posed threat to the impoverished Arab country despite being driven out of its main southern bastions by the U.S.-backed military offensive in June.


from XINHUA
2012-08-09 22:46:57

Posted in: Abyan, Abyan Governorate, ADEN, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaida, alqaeda, AQAP, Yemen