Yemeni forces kill 5 al-Qaeda members and arrest 32 suspects

SOurce: Saba, 26/09/2010
Sana'a- Five terrorists of al-Qaeda were killed and 32 suspects arrested during an one-week security campaign took place in Shabwa province, security sources said on Sunday. The sources added that two Yemeni soldiers were killed during the operation of hunting down terrorists of al-Qaeda at al-Hota area in Shabwa, southern Yemen. Last week, the Yemeni military reinforcements from the counterterrorist forces arrived in al-Hota, backed up by heavy weapons, to hunt down suspected al-Qaeda terrorists there.

Al-Hota has seen violent clashes between the Yemeni counterterrorist forces and suspected al-Qaeda terrorists who are holed up in the area. Since June, al-Qaeda militants have carried out a number of attacks on state targets in southern Yemen, including a hit on the headquarters of the Political Security Service in the city of Aden in which 11 people died.

The government has responded with a widespread crackdown including airstrikes, against the suspected militants. The sources affirmed that a number of civilians were virtually encircled because al-Qaeda elements in the area had restricted their movement and prevented them from leaving the neighbourhood to use them as human shields.

In addition, the sources said the security campaign had eliminated al-Qaeda members who disrupt the security of citizens in Shabwa, stressing that some members of al-Qaeda are still at large and are being hunted down by the security forces.