SANA’A: A suicide bomber killed at least eight Yemeni soldiers yesterday after troops backed by tanks attacked an
Al Qaeda stronghold following the collapse of talks to free three Western hostages, local officials and residents said.
Tackling lawlessness in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, which flanks the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is an international priority. The United States views Yemen as a frontline in its struggle against Al Qaeda.
A Finnish couple and an Austrian man, who were studying Arabic in Yemen, were snatched last month by tribesmen in the capital Sana’a. They were later sold to Al Qaeda-linked members, and transferred to the southern Al Bayda province, a Yemeni official told Reuters earlier this month.
A government official said the army began its offensive in
Al Qaeda’s Al-Manaseh stronghold in Al-Bayda early yesterday after the militants rejected demands to release the hostages.
Residents said they saw dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles moving at dawn towards
Al Manaseh. REUTERS
