| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Arabia | |
| Seven soldiers killed in north Yemen attacks | |
| 2009-07-25 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Shiite rebels killed seven soldiers in attacks in north Yemen, a military source said on Friday, as al-Qaeda militants and separatists mount a growing challenge to the U.S.-backed government. An unspecified number of soldiers were also wounded and captured in the violence which erupted on Thursday and spilled over into Friday in the mountainous rebel stronghold of Saada. "Clashes broke out after Huthi rebels attacked army bases in the Saada province, during which seven soldiers were killed, while a number of others were wounded or captured," the source said. On Tuesday, an army officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded in an ambush on the Saada-Sanaa road, the defense ministry said. The rebels want to restore the Zaidi imamate which was overthrown in a republican coup in 1962. Thousands of people have been killed since 2004 in clashes between government forces and rebels. Kidnapping foreigners
An offshoot of Shiite Islam, Zaidis are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but form the majority in the north. The government has accused the Zaidi rebels of kidnapping nine foreigners and killing three of them -- two Germans and a South Korean -- last month, a charge vehemently denied by the group. Mystery surrounds the fate of the other six hostages -- five Germans and a Briton -- while the authorities say they may still be alive and that an intense search is underway for them. One of the poorest countries in the world, Yemen is also battling unrest in the south, where separatist sentiment runs deep almost two decades after unification with the north. | |
| Posted by:Fred |