Sana'a (dpa) – At least 6 government soldiers were killed Sunday when insurgents linked to al-Qaeda attacked military positions in southern Yemen, military sources told the Yemeni website Mareb Press, signalling a rise in the terrorist organization's action since a new president was sworn in. The attacks were mounted near Zinjibar, the capital city of the province of Abyan, seen as a stronghold of al-Qaeda radicals. The group seized tanks, guns and ammunition belonging to the government forces, according to Mareb Press. Other armed groups, meanwhile, blocked a major road between Abyan and Aden, another southern province, to prevent the government from sending troops to the region. The attack comes a day after two suicide bombers, believed to be affiliated to al-Qaeda, targeted an army camp south-east of the Yemeni capital Sana'a. Four soldiers were injured in that bombing. At least 25 people were also killed last week when a suicide bomber, reportedly with links to al-Qaeda, attacked a presidential complex in southern Yemen, hours after the parliament in Sana'a swore in Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi as the country's new president. Hadi, who ended 33-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, has vowed to fight al-Qaeda across the country, calling it a “religious and national duty.” Meanwhile, Abdullah Idriss, an education official in Rada'a, some 150 kilometres south-east of Sana'a, survived on Sunday what local media called an assassination attempt. Idriss, who also heads the town's branch of Saleh's General People's Congress Party, sustained injuries when a bomb exploded inside his car, almotamar.net, the party's mouthpiece, reported. Two companions were injured in the incident. A battalion of armed radicals with links to al-Qaeda seized Rada'a in January before releasing him following tribal mediation. Al-Qaeda militants have taken advantage of a year of political turmoil in Yemen and the weak central government to strengthen their foothold in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/0Bfqt Tags: Al Qaeda, Attack, Soldiers Section: Latest News, Yemen
