SANA'A: Yemeni officials in the southern province of Abyan confirmed on Wednesday that the country's armed forces had conducted a shelling campaign on alleged al-Qaeda's positions near the city of Zinjibar, killing 12 Islamic militants. The sources added that in the cross-fire, two soldiers were killed. This latest effort against al-Qaeda fighters was prompted by the need to restore a sense of security and unity throughout Yemen territories ahead of the coming presidential elections. Vice-President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi is set to be elected President of the Republic of Yemen in 6 days time and the Defense Ministry said it was determined to fight off any threat to the democratic process, both within and without. Fears of an armed confrontation between the military and factions opposed to the power-transfer under the terms of the GCC initiative have risen in the past few weeks with more threats having been voiced by the southern secessionist movement and al-Houthis, a Shia group demanding a return to the ancestral rule of the Imams. Both factions have warned that they would work at disrupting the elections. On several occasions near Aden, the country's main southern sea-port city and former capital of South Yemen, armed men attacked poll stations and revolutionaries; sparking fears that secessionists would use violence and potentially sink the country into another bloody civil war. Al-Harak, however, denied all allegations. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/txP6Z Tags: Al Qaeda, Bombing, Shelling, Violence Section: Latest News, Yemen
