Yemeni government troops trying to recapture areas held by Islamic militants have killed 12 suspected al Qaeda members in the troubled southern province of Abyan, the Defence Ministry said Thursday. Hundreds of militants seized the provincial capital, Zinjibar, on May 27, taking advantage of a breakdown of authority resulting from the government's battle with armed tribesmen seeking to topple the autocratic leader of more than three decades.
Yemen's crisis has deepened further since President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has clung to power throughout months of protests against his rule, was wounded in a rocket attack on his compound nearly a week ago and flown to neighbouring Saudi Arabia for urgent medical treatment. Saleh had surgery to remove shards of wood that lodged in his chest when one of the rockets splintered a pulpit in a mosque where the president and top aides were praying.
On Thursday, Saudi and Yemeni officials in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, said Saleh's condition had stabilised enough to move him out of intensive care at the military hospital where he is being treated. The officials said Saleh, who also suffered burns, would have cosmetic surgery in the coming days. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press. The United States fears the power vacuum will give freer rein to al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, one of the terror network's most active franchises. It has been behind two attempted terror attacks on US targets.
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