Air strikes in Yemen kill 6 Al Qaida suspects

Sana’a: Yemeni security officials say six Al Qaida suspects have been killed and 12 others wounded in army attacks on militant positions around the country.

The officials say two militants were killed Friday in air strikes in southern Abyan province. The attacks came days after militants overran a military post in the area.

The officials also say four militants died when the military shelled their positions in Marib province, to the east of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Washington considers Yemen’s Al Qaida offshoot to be the world’s most dangerous branch of the terror network. The US is helping the Yemeni government battle the militants.

Al Qaida has retaliated by carrying out assassinations of several senior Yemeni military officials.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Calvalley Petroleum Inc shut an oil well in south-eastern Yemen after an explosion targeting its facilities damaged the well head.

An explosive device went off outside an oil well on Thursday night in Hadramout province. Unidentified men planted three bombs near an oil well but two were defused, the report said.

Calvalley said the targeted well in the Al Roidhat field was producing about 100 barrels of oil per day and production from other wells was not affected.

The damaged well will be put back on production after repairs are completed, the company said.

Calvalley’s principal asset is its 50 per cent working interest in Block 9 in the Sayun-Masila Basin in Yemen.

Yemen’s modest oil exports have been halted by repeated attacks on its pipelines, with a recent shutdown since Nov. 12. Al Qaeda insurgents ambushed an army patrol inspecting a pipeline in Maarib province on December 8, killing 17 soldiers.