15 killed in clashes between army, Qaeda in Yemen
ADEN, Yemen — Heavy clashes between troops and suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen at the entrance to the southern Yemen city of Zinjibar left 15 people dead, nine of them soldiers, the military…
ADEN, Yemen — Heavy clashes between troops and suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen at the entrance to the southern Yemen city of Zinjibar left 15 people dead, nine of them soldiers, the military and medics said Tuesday.The fighting erupted when troops advanced on Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, as they prepared to storm it in a bid to wrest it back from the control of suspected Al-Qaeda militants, who overran it on May 29."Heavy fighting broke out between the army and Al-Qaeda gunmen when troops advanced towards the city to storm it," said a military official, giving a toll of nine soldiers dead and at least 10 wounded.One medic confirmed the toll of soldiers while another said that "Al-Razi hospital in (the nearby town) Jaar received the bodies of six Al-Qaeda gunmen while four wounded militants were also brought in."In Sanaa Monday, protesters demanded a swift transfer of power from Ali Abdullah Saleh as his deputy said the veteran Yemeni president would return within days after surgery in Riyadh for blast injuries.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday urged Saleh to act "in the best interest of his people" while the White House called for an "immediate transition.""His excellency is making a strong recovery and will return home in the coming days," Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi said at a meeting of the ruling General People's Congress, quoted by the official Saba news agency.In Sanaa, a fragile truce held despite a deadly sniper attack on loyalists of a powerful tribal chief blamed for Friday's bomb attack which wounded Saleh as he prayed inside a mosque in his compound.As Saleh, 69, recuperated in a Riyadh military hospital, a committee of youth activists that has been a key player behind the four-month uprising against his nearly 33 years of iron-fisted rule called for a quick transfer of power. The committee urged "all national and political forces to begin by forming an interim presidential council."It also called for a "government of technocrats" to lead the transition.Tens of thousa
last modification 2011-06-07 09:15:45
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