Gunmen who Yemen’s Army said were Al-Qaeda members briefly took over a security headquarters and government buildings in Masameer, a region of the southern Lahj province, residents told Reuters by telephone.
“There was a long battle with security forces,” one resident said. Attackers managed to free several inmates from a local jail after driving out government troops, they said. Three guards were killed on Wednesday when gunmen stormed other state buildings in the city of Al-Hota, about 65 km away from Thursday’s attack in Masameer.
Months of pro-democracy protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule have nearly paralyzed the country, leading to severe shortages of electricity, water and fuel.
Shipping sources said a tanker carrying 600,000 barrels of oil arrived at the port of Aden as part of a grant of 3 million barrels promised by Saudi Arabia. The sources said it would go to Aden’s refinery, idled since a blast in April cut the pipeline on which it relies.
Gulf Arab states have seen Saleh thwart three diplomatic bids to ease him from power and end a political crisis that has threatened to descend into civil war.
Yemeni forces said they caught 10 suspected Al-Qaeda operatives trying to sneak into the southern port city of Aden late on Wednesday.
Yemen’s Defense Ministry said two people were killed on Thursday after “terrorists” fired mortar rounds in the city.
A local security official said military checkpoints and patrols of banks and government buildings in Aden had been stepped up, and an attempt to blow up a hotel there had been foiled.
“Security forces captured saboteurs who were trying to plant an explosive device in a hotel in Aden,” he said. Five more people were detained for firing on residents and raiding stores in the Mansoora area of the city, he said.
