Four Yemeni policemen were killed Saturday in clashes with Islamist fighters during a major government offensive against wanted militants in the south of the country, witnesses told AFP.The deadly shootout erupted in Jaar, northeast of the port city of Aden, where police had been hunting for wanted members of jihadist groups. "This campaign comes after dissident elements attacked members of the security forces and government interests, and disrupted peace and security over the past few weeks," a Jaar security official told AFP.
A passerby and seven policemen were also wounded in the fighting, with two in a critical condition, a local hospital source said.
Residents of Jaar told AFP that security forces cordoned off the city early in the morning and searched a number of houses in their hunt for the militants. Residents said sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed across the city as gunmen battled troops and police in sporadic firefights. Sources close to the Islamic Jihad group told AFP that four people were arrested by security forces.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has seen a spate of attacks on foreign and government targets, most recently suicide bombings against South Korean tourists. A suicide bomber blew himself up in the historic eastern city of Shibam on March 15, killing four South Korean tourists and their Yemeni guide. Three days later, a similar attack targeted a South Korean delegation in the capital Sanaa, but there were no casualties.
Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed the four tourists, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Friday.