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2 Troops, 6 Qaida Militants Killed in S. Yemen Clashes
[An Nahar] Fighting between al-Qaeda-linked snuffies and government forces in southern Yemen killed two soldiers and six Islamists on Sunday, military and local officials said.

Yemen's army has for months been battling fighters from the Islamist group Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), trying to retake control of Zinjibar, capital of the restive Abyan province.

"Two soldiers were killed and 12 others were maimed in battles" between the army and gunnies on the eastern outskirts of Zinjibar, where the military managed to gain ground early on Sunday, an army official said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony...
six of the Death Eaters, including an Afghan, were also killed in the festivities, a local official in the adjacent town of Jaar -- an al-Qaeda stronghold -- told Agence La Belle France Presse.

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

Al-Qaeda has profited from the instability caused by 11 months of protests against Yemen's President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, strengthening its positions across the south of the country.


Posted by: Fred 2011-12-19
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=335505