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Yemeni protesters chant slogans during an anti-regime demonstration in the capital Sanaa on January 29, 2012 to demand a trial for Yemen's outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh, who is due to step down next month, arrived on January 28 in the United States on a politically sensitive visit to seek medical treatment for wounds inflicted in a bombing. Image Credit: AFP

Sana’a Yemen’s Minister of Information Ali Al Amrani narrowly escaped death on Tuesday in the capital when gunmen opened fire on his car, local sources said. The minister was en route from the weekly meeting of the cabinet .

Following the incident, a senior figure in the former opposition coalition, Joint Meetings Parties, told Gulf News that many groups are not happy with the calm that followed the formation of the new government.

Armed attack

Meanwhile, Al Qaida-linked group launched an armed attack Tuesday on Radda, a small town about 170km southeast of Sana’a, in an an attempt to reoccupy the town hours after an suspected American drone killed at least 11 militants in the southern province of Abyan.

The ministry of defence said that three Al Qaida militants were killed and five soldiers injured in the clashes. Unconfirmed media reports said that the leader of the militants was killed in the strike and his followers attacked the town in retaliation for his death.

In the south, local sources in the district of Lowder, Abyan province, told Gulf News that a suspected drone targeted on Monday night two vehicles carrying a group of militants, killing at least 11 and injuring many others.

The sources did not confirm whether top leaders of Al Qaida including Nasser Al Weheshi or Tarek Dhaheb were among the dead.

Kidnapping

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen kidnapped on Tuesday a group of aid workers along with their Yemeni guides from Al Ahjer district in Mahwet province, northern Yemen.
Yemen tribesmen usually abduct foreigners to force government to meet their demands.

This week a Norwegian UN employee, who was kidnapped earlier this month, was released.