SANAA: A key member of Al-Qaeda in Yemen was killed in clashes between police and suspected militants in the Hadhramout province, officials said yesterday.
They said Hamza Al-Quaiti, believed to be the mastermind of several terrorist attacks that hit Yemen in recent months, was among five Al-Qaeda suspects killed as police stormed their hide-out in Tarim town, 900 km southeast of Sanaa, on Monday.
Two police officers were also killed and five others, including two policemen, injured in the shootout. Two other suspects were arrested by police.
Al-Quaiti, who was among 10 Al-Qaeda fugitives, was wanted by authorities for his alleged role in plotting car bomb attacks.
including the July 2007 bombing of a travel convoy that left eight Spanish tourists dead.
He fled a high-security prison in Sanaa in February 2006 along with 22 other Al-Qaeda operatives. Their escape dealt a major blow to Yemen's efforts in the fight against Al-Qaeda.
A statement posted on the Defense Ministry's website said police seized a cache of explosives, including 40 bags of gun powder, explosive devices, hand grenades, machineguns and gas cylinders during the raid.
The website quoted unnamed government officials as saying that investigations showed that the busted cell was behind the recent terror attacks, including four car bomb attacks.
The official Saba news agency said police also seized documents and blueprints of terrorist plots in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The latest attack blamed on the group was the July 25 suicide car bomb attack against the police complex in Sayoun city of Hadhramout that killed a policeman and wounded 18 others, including seven women.
The Al-Qaeda wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the killing of five Al-Qaeda members by police in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for three recent car bomb attacks in Yemen, including the July 2007 attack on a tourist convoy in the central province of Marib that killed eight Spanish tourists.
In September 2006, two Al-Qaeda suicide attackers blew up an explosives-laden pickup in the Safer oil refinery also in Marib. A simultaneous bombing hit an oil exporting port in Hadhramout, killing a security guard and two suicide attackers.
Hadhramout was the scene of a shooting attack on a convoy of tourists that left two Belgian women and two Yemeni drivers dead on Jan. 18. Al-Qaeda also claimed responsibility for the attack.
