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28 March 2024

Eight Qaeda-linked militants killed in Yemen: govt

Published
By AFP

Eight militants linked to Al-Qaeda were killed in Yemen's restive southern Abyan province in overnight clashes with government troops and armed tribesmen, a local government official said on Sunday.

Five of the militants died when troops shelled their positions in the southern village of Al-Kud near the provincial capital Zinjibar, where the army has been battling to retake control after militants overran the city in May.

"Five gunmen, including an (Al-Qaeda) leader of Saudi nationality known as Nayef al-Qahtani," were killed in the attack and three others were wounded, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Separately, three other suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in clashes with troops and armed tribesmen in the village of Al-Tariyya, northeast of Zinjibar, the official said.

At least two of the dead militants were of "African" origin, he added.

Government troops, backed by US drones, are at war with the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) in Abyan and Yemen's eastern Marib province.

The group is believed to be an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, which is widely considered the global terror network's most active and deadly branch.

Since January, mass anti-government protests calling for veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation have weakened the central government's control over Yemen, allowing Al-Qaeda to strengthen its influence in the impoverished and violence wracked country.