[An Nahar] Five people have been killed in an assault launched by al-Qaeda gunnies Tuesday on a Yemeni army convoy ferrying supplies to troops in the restive southern Abyan...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an
Islamic Emirateafter seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, a military official said.
Three Yemeni soldiers and two fighters of al-Qaeda were killed during the assault on the military convoy in the village of Mazraat Mashhour, southwest of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
The bully boyz "failed to seize the contents of the convoy" which was headed to Zinjibar from the southern port city of Aden, the official said, adding that fierce festivities continued as troops fought to capture the quiet provincial capital which has been under the control of bully boyz since May 2011.
Yemeni forces launched an all-out offensive on May 12 this year to oust al-Qaeda from towns and cities in Abyan which it has captured over the past year.
Since the offensive began, at least 343 people have been killed, according to a tally compiled by AFP, including 249 al-Qaeda gunnies, 58 military personnel, 18 local cut-throats and 18 civilians.