At least 22 al-Qaeda-linked militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight during a US-backed offensive against insurgents in the south of the country, officials said on Saturday.
Fighting erupted late on Friday and carried on into Saturday on the outskirts of the southern city of Jaar, held by Islamist militants who have stepped up their campaign during months of political turmoil.
Government troops, backed by US drone strikes, have been trying to push the insurgents out of strongholds in the country’s south, which lies near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.
Washington and Yemen’s neighbor, Saudi Arabia, both fear the instability in Yemen could give al-Qaeda’s regional wing a stronger foothold in the region.
“There is heavy fighting and the armed elements are doing everything possible to stop the advance of [government] troops,” a government official said on condition of anonymity.
Government forces were about 1km from Jaar, he added.
Twelve Yemeni soldiers and 17 militants were killed in the fighting and an air strike killed three militants on the outskirts of the city, the official said.
Another air strike destroyed a vehicle used by militants, killing two people inside in the southern province of Bayda, provincial governor Mohammed al-Ameri was quoted as saying on a defense ministry Web site.
Insurgents have seized swathes of territory in the south of the Arab country since mass protests erupted last year against then-Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Washington has stepped up drone attacks in Yemen since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February. The Pentagon said earlier this month it had resumed sending military trainers to the country.
On Saturday, the head of the US Special Operations Forces met Yemen’s chief of staff and said the US was committed to supporting Yemen, state news agency Saba reported.
General Ken Tovo said the US “was prepared to provide all necessary assistance to Yemen in fighting terrorism and ensuring the elimination of al-Qaeda”, the agency said.
Tovo’s visit to Yemen followed a trip to the country by FBI Director Robert Mueller last month.
On Friday, an army official and residents said troops backed by local tribesmen had killed 10 suspected militants outside Jaar.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda retreated on Thursday from the town of Lawdar, about 80km north of Jaar, as warplanes attacked and ground troops advanced on insurgent-held towns.
In months, Lo Yuet-ping would bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades. The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub. Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he would miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
A French woman whose husband has admitted to enlisting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was drugged on Thursday told his trial that police had saved her life by uncovering the crimes. “The police saved my life by investigating Mister Pelicot’s computer,” Gisele Pelicot told the court in the southern city of Avignon, referring to her husband — one of 51 of her alleged abusers on trial — by only his surname. Speaking for the first time since the extraordinary trial began on Monday, Gisele Pelicot, now 71, revealed her emotion in almost 90 minutes of testimony, recounting her mysterious
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
RSS