Security developments in Yemen

Source: Reuters, 20/12/2010

Yemen is battling a wing of al Qaeda that has become increasingly active in the country. The security situation is of particular international concern because the impoverished state is a neighbour of Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer.

Yemen is also trying to cement a truce with Shi'ite rebels to end a civil war in the north, and to end a separatist rebellion in the south.

Following are security developments in Yemen in the past month (* denotes new or updated item):

* HABILAYN, Dec 19 - Government troops seal off the southern town of al-Habilayn as they hunt those behind an attack that killed at least three soldiers and an army officer on Thursday, a local official says.

ADEN, Dec 19 - Armed militants seize a Yemeni soldier in a southern town to press for the release of three detained men, the head of an opposition group tells Reuters.

SANAA, Dec 17 - Police say they prevented a man from bombing a U.S. embassy car in Sanaa, and were investigating whether the Jordanian suspect had ties to al Qaeda.

ZINJIBAR, Dec 17 - Two soldiers are killed and two more are wounded in clashes with suspected al Qaeda militants early Friday morning, a local security official says.

HABILAYN, Dec 16 - Four soldiers, including an army officer, and a unidentified gunman are killed in gun battle in a market in the southern province of Lahj, a local security official says.

LAWDAR, Dec 15 - One solider is killed and 3 others wounded in a gun battle with suspected al Qaeda militants in the southern province of Abyan, according to a local security official.

ZINJIBAR, Dec 13 - Head of political security in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan is lightly wounded in a roadside bombing targeting his car, according to a local official, who says al Qaeda is likely behind the attack.

SANAA, Dec 11 - About 10 people are killed in fighting between northern Shi'ite rebels and tribesmen who often side with the government. A rebel spokesman declines to confirm the toll.
ADEN, Dec 13 - Five soldiers and one army officer who were kidnapped in a secessionist hotspot in south Yemen at the weekend were released.

ADEN, Dec 11 - A court sentences a man to death for a bombing which killed four people at a sports club in Aden in October, sparking days of demonstrations.
LAHJ, Dec 11 - Unidentified gunmen kidnap two soldiers in the southern province of Lahj, local officials say.

ADEN, Dec 11 - A court in the southern province of Hadramout sentences 12 people to up to seven years in jail for links to al Qaeda, state media report.
SANAA, Dec 9 - Police arrest eight people suspected of planting a bomb that ripped through a market and injured 13 people on Dec 8.

SANAA, Nov 29 - Armed tribesmen free the head of a Saudi hospital in Yemen hours after abducting him, after receiving assurances about their demand for the release of detained kinsmen.

DUBAI - Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claims responsibility for a Nov. 24 car bombing in an Internet statement.

SAADA, Nov 26 - A car bomb in Saada, in the north, kills two people, including an attacker, and wounds eight in a convoy of Houthis, a Shi'ite rebel group.
AL JAWF, Nov 24 - A car bomb kills 23 people at a religious gathering of rebels in Jawf province in the north.

SHABWA, Nov 11 - Masked gunmen wound two soldiers manning a checkpoint in Shabwa province. (Reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden, and Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam in Sanaa; Compiled by Gulf bureau)