SANA'A: Al-Qaeda affiliated militants in the southeastern corner of Yemen have reportedly taken control of a small town, witnesses told Bikyamasr.com on Sunday afternoon. It comes as the militant Islamic organization continues to battle government and local tribal forces for control of areas of Yemen, which is on the brink of civil war after months of protests finally led to the removal of President Ali Abdullah Salah from power, pending his exodus from the country. One witness told Bikyamasr.com via telephone that al-Qaeda fighters came into Radda in the al-Baydah province late on Saturday night and took over the police station and seized an ancient citadel and the local mosque in the town. “There wasn't much fighting and they are basically in power now,” said the witness, who asked for anonymity. Taking over the town now expands al-Qaeda control beyond the southern Abyan province, which has been their stronghold since the uprising against Saleh broke out last February. Radda, a town of some 60,000 people, is now under the tutelage of Tareq al-Dahab, a person wanted by the government and who had been handed over to Yemen by Syria after he attempted to sneak into Iraq. Dahab is a brother-in-law of an American-born Muslim cleric linked to al-Qaeda, who was killed in an air strike last year. Yahia Abu Usba, deputy head of the Yemeni Socialist Party and a Saleh critic, said security forces appeared to have done very little to stop the militants from entering Radda and warned that al Qaeda was planning to strike at the oil-rich Maarib Province next, bringing it closer to Sanaa. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/pwqDj Tags: Al Qaeda, Militants, Radda Section: Latest News, Yemen
