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Militants Make Incursion in Southern Yemen City
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Jun 15, 2011 02:14pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Wednesday, June 15, 2011 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By LAURA KASINOF
Published: June 15, 2011
SANA, Yemen — Militants of unknown affiliation made a serious incursion early Wednesday into a provincial capital in Yemen’s southeast, warning government officials to leave or face retaliation. The attack was the latest case of armed groups taking advantage of the security vacuum created by the country’s prolonged political crisis.
Southern Yemen is a hotbed for antigovernment factions, including separatists and Islamic militants, only some of whom belong to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen’s local branch of the international terrorist network.
The militants took over the central bank and a police base, along with other key buildings in the city of Hawta, the capital of the restive Lahij Province, residents said. Security forces withdrew, they said, leaving civilians to try to fight off the militants. They said the militants announced via megaphones that all government officials must leave within 24 hours or face retaliation, and then retreated from the city.
“In the morning fear was controlling all of the civilians,” said Ayed, a Hawta resident who did not want his last name used out of fear of retaliation. “Many stores closed. Many civilians left town. Now there is a state of apprehension in the city. There are few people on the streets.”
An official from the Lahij governor’s office and another Yemeni official confirmed the clashes, but said security forces had fought the militants. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
The official from the governor’s office said that two soldiers were killed. He said he did not know what group the armed men belonged to. |
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