Yemen police arrest 6 Al Qaida suspects

Aden: Yemeni security forces have arrested six suspected members of Al Qaida, including a mosque’s imam, in the southern city of Aden, a security official said on Friday.

Police raided a house in the Kraitar neighbourhood of Aden at dawn on Friday and arrested three suspects, the official said, adding that the imam of a mosque in Mansura area was also arrested from his house late on Thursday.

Two others were arrested on Thursday following a raid on a house in the neighbourhood of Dar Sa’ad, the official added, requesting anonymity.

Security forces have been on heightened alert in Aden following an attack by suspected Al Qaida militants last Saturday on intelligence headquarters that killed 19 soldiers.

Police have set up at least six new checkpoints in the city, an AFP correspondent reported.

Al Qaida’s branch in Yemen exploited the decline in central government control last year that accompanied Arab Spring-inspired protests that eventually forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to cede power in February.

Militants linked to Al Qaida had seized control of Zinjibar, Jaar, Shuqra and other towns across the southern province of Abyan, but government forces in May launched an all-out offensive and recaptured the towns the following month.