SANAA: Two Al-Qaeda-linked militants and a pro-government tribesman were killed in clashes in Yemen's restive south yesterday, a local official and a tribesman said.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has made its base in the impoverished state, which slid into chaos last year after protests that eventually forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
The Yemeni army helped by local tribes launched a US-backed drive in May to drive militants out of several southern towns they had held for more than a year.
The two militants killed in yesterday’s violence in Abyan province were from Somalia and Pakistan, the tribesman said. Al-Qaeda has attracted hundreds of foreign fighters since it seized the towns in the south. Some of those militants had previously fought in Afghanistan.
Al-Qaeda militants killed in Yemen
