Violence in south Yemen on Thursday killed 30 people, of whom 25 were al-Qaeda fighters, including five in an air strike by the Yemeni air force, officials said.
The air raid struck the eastern outskirts of Jaar, a town in Abyan Province that is controlled by militants, a local official said.
Two other alleged al-Qaeda fighters were killed in fighting with militiamen belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees, who are fighting alongside the army, in the village of Batis, north of Jaar, the official said.
The clashes erupted when the militants attempted to return to the village which they controlled until they were chased out by the army last week.
Five more jihadists were killed in an ambush near Batis, the official added.
The ambush by pro-army militiamen was led by former al-Qaeda militant Abdullah al-Sayed, who -defected last year in protest at the presence of “foreigners” in the ranks of the Islamists group.
After the ambush, fierce fighting erupted between militants and the militiamen when the jihadists launched an evening assault on Batis, using shells and machine guns, causing more deaths, sources said.
“In all, 20 al-Qaeda militants were killed in Thursday’s military operations around Batis,” Abyan Province Deputy Governor Ghaleb al-Raghawi said.
The Yemeni Ministry of Defense confirmed that a total of 20 militants were killed on Thursday in violence around Batis alone.
Meanwhile, a local official said four militiamen and a woman were killed in fighting near Batis.
Yemeni forces launched an all-out offensive on May 12 aimed at reclaiming the Abyan provincial capital, Zinjibar, and other towns and cities seized by militants over the past year.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese