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Al-Qaida militants raid Yemen intelligence HQ
More than 20 al-Qaida militants on Wednesday raided two highly-guarded security intelligence buildings in the south province of Abyan, killing at least one intelligence agent and wounding five others, said a statement posted on Yemeni Defense Ministry's website 26sep.net.The ministry said security forces had repelled attacks on the intelligence headquarters' building and the general security camp in Zinjubar town of Abyan. "Al-Qaida militants took advantage of the summer vacation, using a neighboring school to carry out its attacks, in which they used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. However, their attempts were foiled by our security forces," said the statement. The security forces "killed two al-Qaida militants and captured seven others in the fierce clashes," added the statement. However, a provincial intelligence officer told Xinhua that none of the al-Qaida militants had been killed, wounded or captured because there were not enough security forces at that time. Earlier Wednesday, a local security official confirmed to Xinhua that at least 10 intelligence personnel were killed in the two coordinated gun attacks. The official said the assailants carried out coordinated attacks against the two neighboring buildings of the intelligence office and the general security camp in Zinjubar. The attackers launched serious shootings by heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from four cars and broke into the two buildings. The dead and injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, said the official. The attackers managed to flee while backup security forces were sent immediately to the scene, added the official. On June 19, militants raided the intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden, killing at least 11. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed at least 24 people. Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger plane bound for Detroit last year. Posted by: tipper 2010-07-14 |
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