Sana’a: Fresh clashes in southern Yemen have killed six al Qaeda militants and injured 10 soldiers, military officials said on Wednesday.
The fighting in southeast of the city of Zinjibar is the latest since militants seized a number of towns in the area last spring. Yemeni forces have so far failed to push them out.
Security across Yemen, the Arab world`s poorest country, has largely collapsed during the nearly year-old popular uprising seeking to oust longtime autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The militants have exploited the security vacuum, stepping up operations across the weakly governed provinces while authorities focused their resources on putting down the uprising that was inspired by other Arab Spring revolts.
Saleh handed over power to his deputy before leaving Yemen on Sunday, on his way to the United States for treatment for burns sustained during a bomb attack at his palace mosque last year.
Under a US-backed deal brokered by Yemen`s powerful Gulf neighbours, Saleh`s Vice President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, is likely to be rubber-stamped as the country`s new leader following February 21 Presidential Elections in which he is to be the only candidate.
After briefing the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, Jamal Benomar, the UN envoy to Yemen, told reporters that despite ongoing security problems in the country, Yemenis "realise the symbolic value" of the upcoming elections.
"What I sense is that there is a willingness from all sides that this important milestone is reached within the date specified," he said.
Saleh, who is currently in the Gulf sultanate of Oman, is expected to fly to the US in the coming days. American officials have said that while his trip is only for medical purposes, they hope his absence from Yemen will ease the transitional period.
During his 33-year rule, Saleh used a combination of sly politics and brute force to ensure his control and put close relatives and members of his tribe in charge of key state institutions — posts that most of them still hold.
Saleh has said that after his treatment, he plans to return to Yemen to head his General People`s Congress party.
The US and Saudi Arabia have tried to ensure a peaceful transfer of power out of fears that further chaos in Yemen will give the al Qaeda branch an even freer hand.
Last year, the group seized a number of towns in the country`s south. Two days of clashes in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, have killed six militants and injured 10 soldiers, military officials said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity under military rules.
Also on Wednesday, residents of the city of Radda, 100 miles (160 kilometres) south of the capital Sanaa, held street celebrations, firing guns in the air to celebrate the withdrawal of al Qaeda gunmen from their town.
The gunmen took the town last week and withdrew late Tuesday after negotiating the release of 15 prisoners with local tribal leaders.
Bureau Report
