Six `Qaeda`, three Yemen troops killed in clashes

Aden: Six suspected Al-Qaeda militants and three Yemeni troops died in clashes Sunday in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, scene of frequent attacks on the army, a local official said.

"At dawn, armed forces bombarded a house where Al-Qaeda fighters had barricaded themselves in, killing three of them and wounding others," the official told on condition of anonymity. The body of a fourth militant was later found in the house in the Hadramawt town of Qatan, along with four people who were arrested, a military source said. He said the people arrested were two men -- a Yemeni and a Somali -- and two women, a Pakistani and a Filipina. Responding to the army`s action, other militants attacked an army position in Qatan, sparking a shootout, the local official said. "Three soldiers were killed and six wounded during four hours of fighting," the official said, adding: "Two of the attackers died and four were wounded." Weapons of various calibre were used in the skirmish and several nearby homes were damaged, witnesses said. On Thursday, a policeman and two militants died in clashes in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt. Authorities in the city said they had prevented three suicide car bomb attacks against an official residence, a police barracks and another police site. The defence ministry said it had "thwarted a dangerous criminal plan by Al-Qaeda" in Mukalla. On Saturday night, gunmen riding motor bikes shot and killed two Yemeni men in separate attacks in the southern province of Lahij, a security source said on Sunday, blaming Al-Qaeda for the murders. The source said jihadists carry out such attacks, accusing the victims of practising witchcraft. To deal with the growing number of attacks attributed to Qaeda-linked militants, the army has stepped up its deployment and is poised to launch an offensive against the extremists. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by Washington as the most dangerous affiliate of the jihadist network, is active across several parts of Yemen, taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh.