DTN News: Yemeni Forces Attack Rebel-Held Building In South
Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) SANAA - March 11, 2010: Yemeni forces launched an attack on Thursday to recapture a government building occupied by rebels in the south
of the country, setting off a gun battle in which a passer-by was killed, a local official said.
Under international pressure to quell domestic unrest and focus its sights on al Qaeda, Yemen earlier this week offered to hold talks with southern separatists and hear their grievances.
The offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh followed an escalation in violence on both sides in south Yemen which left a trail of dead and wounded in recent weeks while insurgent violence elsewhere in the country has faded.
"Large military forces launched a campaign this morning to retake the municipality building . But gunmen from the southern movement confronted them and the two sides exchanged fire," the official said.
"One person was killed and a gunman was wounded. Clashes are continuing," he added. He said a large group of armed separatists had been occupying the municipal headquarters in the southern town of Tor al-Baha for months.
While offering dialogue, Saleh also said the separatist flag would "burn in the days and weeks ahead." The separatists, who lack a unified leadership, have given no public response to the president's offer.
Pressure mounted on Yemen to concentrate its efforts on containing al Qaeda after the Yemeni-based regional arm of the militant group claimed responsibility for an unsuccessful attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.
Western allies and neighbouring Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, where 42 percent of the people live in poverty, to use the country as a base from which to prepare attacks in the region and beyond.
Besides its conflict with the separatists, Yemen is trying to bring an end to a Shi'ite insurgency in the north which drew in oil exporter Saudi Arabia in November.
North and South Yemen united in 1990, but many in the south -- home to most of Yemen's oil facilities -- complain northerners have seized resources and discriminate against them.
Diplomats say previous talks offers by Sanaa have not been followed by concrete action to tackle southern complaints that Sanaa neglects the south and treats southerners unfairly, including in property disputes, jobs and pension rights.
Some southerners say Saleh's ties to Saudi Arabia, Yemen's biggest donor, have led him to tolerate inroads by the kingdom's puritanical Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam.
Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) SANAA - March 11, 2010: Yemeni forces launched an attack on Thursday to recapture a government building occupied by rebels in the south
of the country, setting off a gun battle in which a passer-by was killed, a local official said.
Under international pressure to quell domestic unrest and focus its sights on al Qaeda, Yemen earlier this week offered to hold talks with southern separatists and hear their grievances.
The offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh followed an escalation in violence on both sides in south Yemen which left a trail of dead and wounded in recent weeks while insurgent violence elsewhere in the country has faded.
"Large military forces launched a campaign this morning to retake the municipality building . But gunmen from the southern movement confronted them and the two sides exchanged fire," the official said.
"One person was killed and a gunman was wounded. Clashes are continuing," he added. He said a large group of armed separatists had been occupying the municipal headquarters in the southern town of Tor al-Baha for months.
While offering dialogue, Saleh also said the separatist flag would "burn in the days and weeks ahead." The separatists, who lack a unified leadership, have given no public response to the president's offer.
Pressure mounted on Yemen to concentrate its efforts on containing al Qaeda after the Yemeni-based regional arm of the militant group claimed responsibility for an unsuccessful attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.
Western allies and neighbouring Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen, where 42 percent of the people live in poverty, to use the country as a base from which to prepare attacks in the region and beyond.
Besides its conflict with the separatists, Yemen is trying to bring an end to a Shi'ite insurgency in the north which drew in oil exporter Saudi Arabia in November.
North and South Yemen united in 1990, but many in the south -- home to most of Yemen's oil facilities -- complain northerners have seized resources and discriminate against them.
Diplomats say previous talks offers by Sanaa have not been followed by concrete action to tackle southern complaints that Sanaa neglects the south and treats southerners unfairly, including in property disputes, jobs and pension rights.
Some southerners say Saleh's ties to Saudi Arabia, Yemen's biggest donor, have led him to tolerate inroads by the kingdom's puritanical Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam.
No comments:
Post a Comment