SANAA: Yemeni police arrested a leading figure of the Islamic Jihad movement in the southern province of Abyan late on Friday, security sources said yesterday.
Khaled Abdulnabi was captured outside his house in Ja’ar city of Abyan after police followed a suspicious car into Abdulnabi’s house, the sources told Arab News.
After the arrest a gunbattle broke out between police forces and armed followers of Abdulnabi in the streets of Ja’ar that lasted for several hours, witnesses said. They said police evacuated residents of houses close to the area of operation.
At least three policemen were injured in the shootout in Ja’ar, where Jihadist fighters have a strong presence. Police also arrested several armed men involved in the clash, local officials in Abyan said.
Ja’ar is located nearly 600 km south of the capital Sanaa, and is close to the Hatat mountains where armed Islamic groups take shelter.
Police officials said last week security forces were pursuing five militants connected to bombings that targeted local government and police buildings in Abyan.
Security sources in Abyan said police arrested 40 militants in a clampdown on militant groups in the mountains of Hatat in the past two weeks.
