Two Yemen soldiers, 13 Islamists killed in clashes

Fresh fighting between suspected Al Qaida and army in Abyan province kills 2 soldiers, 13 Islamists

Last updated: September 15, 2018 | 22:35

1 MIN READ

AFP

Aden: Fresh fighting between suspected Al Qaida militants and army troops in Yemen's restive Abyan province have killed two soldiers and 13 Islamists, military officials said on Tuesday.

During Monday's clashes in southern Yemen the army fired artillery rounds on positions held by fighters of the Al Qaida-linked Partisans of Sharia group, killing 13 Islamists, the officials said.

Two soldiers were killed in the fighting on the outskirts of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, which the army has been trying to retake control of since May.

A local official in the adjacent town of Jaar, an Al Qaida stronghold, told AFP that the army has benefited from US logistical support which allows Yemeni forces to locate the Islamists' hideouts.

Yemeni government forces have been backed by tribal fighters and sometimes supported by US drone strikes in their fight against the Partisans of Sharia, which has controlled most of Zinjibar since May.

Al Qaida has profitted from the instability caused by 11 months of protests against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, strengthening its positions across the south of the country.

Yemeni anti-government protesters show the slogans on their palms, asking for the trial and execution of President Ali Abdullah Saleh during a demonstration in Sanaa on December 16, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated across the country rejecting an amnesty given to President Ali Abdullah Saleh against prosecution in a deal that eases him out of office.

A wounded Yemeni protester is treated after a he was hurt in a demonstration in Taez, south of the capital Sanaa on December 5, 2011. Forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot dead a woman and wounded six other people when they opened fire on a crowd of protesters, medics said.

March 1, 2011: A protester demands the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sana'a.

Yemeni anti-government protester march in the streets of Sana'a after the Friday noon prayer on December 9, 2011 to demand that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh be put on trial over his regime's bloody repression of the opposition movement.

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