37 militants killed in Yemen army offensive
Iran Press TV
Sun May 4, 2014 3:45PM GMT
The Yemeni army has killed at least 37 al-Qaeda suspects and injured dozens in an ongoing offensive in the south of the impoverished country.
Yemen's Defense Ministry said on Sunday the militants were killed in the Maifaa region of Shabwa province on day six of the major offensive against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
On Friday, soldiers backed by warplanes killed five militants in the same province.
The large-scale operation started on April 29 to flush al-Qaeda militants out of southern towns of Yemen.
Abu Islam al-Shishani, a militant commander who had fought against Russian forces in Chechnya before moving to Yemen, and Abu Muslim al-Uzbeki, an AQAP leader in Abyan province who hailed from Uzbekistan were killed in the offensive.
Yemen has witnessed regular attacks on its troops and other acts of violence, with authorities blaming al-Qaeda militants for the deadly assaults.
On April 13, at least four members of Yemeni security forces were killed in three separate militant attacks in the country.
Suspected al-Qaeda militants attacked a Special Forces checkpoint at the western entrance to the port city of Mukalla, which is the provincial capital of Hadramawt, on April 8, killing four soldiers and injuring two others.
Al-Qaeda-linked violence against Yemeni security forces has grown since February 2012, when President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi came to power in a one-man election backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Hadi replaced long-time dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted after a year of mass protests across the country.
MR/PR/SL
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