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| Arabia |
| Besieged Al-Qaeda Militants Battling Yemeni Govt Troops |
| 2010-09-25 |
| [Arab Times (Kuwait)] Al-Qaeda Islamic snuffies holed up in a village in south Yemen on Wednesday fought off repeated attempts by government troops backed by tanks and heavy artillery to retake the besieged town, officials said. Thousands of people have decamped Hawta and the surrounding area in Shabwa province since security forces laid siege to the village three days ago. The operation signals an escalation in the government's US-backed campaign to uproot the terror network's local offshoot, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Shabwa officials said at least four al-Qaeda gunnies and a civilian have been killed since the fighting began Saturday, while medical officials said at least nine soldiers have been maimed in the past two days. More than two dozen suspected Islamic snuffies have been detained. The government operation, which aims to uproot a 120-man snuffy cell, comes after several attacks by al-Qaeda gunnies against Yemeni security forces at checkpoints and security outposts. "The forces are involved in fierce battles to cleanse the Hawta area from those elements that turned these desert areas into their training and hiding centers, and who have taken residents as human shields," Shabwa security chief Ahmed al-Maqdashi said. Thousands of supporters of Yemen's Southern Movement demonstrated on Thursday ahead of a key meeting of the "Friends of Yemen" donors group in New York, local officials and witnesses said. Prostestors in several cities, including the restive Loder, carried flags of former South Yemen and anti-North placards, the officials told AFP. Tribal sources estimated that 8,000 people, most of them carrying firearms, took part in the demonstration in Loder, shouting slogans against Yemeni unity. Last month, Loder was the scene of fierce clashes between Yemeni forces and alleged al-Qaeda Islamic snuffies as Sanaa charged that members of the Southern Movement fought alongside al-Qaeda. A Southern Movement source told AFP his supporters "carried arms after the Yemeni army, which has been imposing a blockade on Loder since August, threatened to crush the demonstration." "We took arms to defend ourselves," he said. Protestors in Loder called in a statement "on south Yemenis to unite in the face of the barbaric military campaign by the occupation Yemeni forces against the people of Huta city in Shabwa province," where fierce fighting with suspected al-Qaeda Islamic snuffies has been raging over the past six days. The statement called on the international community and the "Friends of Yemen" group to "intervene to resolve the south Yemen issue." "Resolving the southern cause is essential to resolving all problems facing Yemen ... Any solution that does not stipulate a final settlement for south Yemen will be without any value." Police dispersed a small group of demonstrators Thursday morning in Aden, the main city in south Yemen, eyewitnesses said. Southern Movement front man Ahmad al-Rabeezi told AFP security forces jugged 12 Islamic snuffies as they left a meeting in Aden province, where they were planning for the protests, Rabeezi said. Police tightened security in Aden where supporters of the Southern Movement prepared to stage a demonstration in the evening, Rabeezi said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 whenever they protest so much and fight like maniacs, you know there gotta be terrorist big shots in that village. keep it surrounded and continue the operation. |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-09-25 20:26 |
| #1 The term "Islamic snuffies" needs to be added to our daily conversations. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-09-25 15:30 |