[AnNahar] Yemeni troops on Saturday rubbed out five Al-Qaeda suspects disguised as women who fired at a soldier during a checkpoint inspection of their Saudi-bound bus, officials said.Another suspect was maimed along with the driver in the shooting in Harad, a town 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the Saudi border, the officials said, adding two of those killed were Saudis.
"As one of the soldiers climbed on board the bus for an inspection, one of the suspects opened fire and maimed him, prompting shooting from other soldiers at the checkpoint," said a government official who gave the casualty toll.
All six had been dressed in black robes and wore the niqab, a face-covering veil commonly worn by women in Yemen, the official in Harad told AFP.
A suicide belt and arms were also found on board the bus, and the maimed suspect and driver were being questioned, said the security official.
"The men are suspected of affiliation with Al-Qaeda and were heading north towards Yemen's border with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
," he told AFP.
Security forces in Yemen rarely carry out inspections of vehicles carrying women in the conservative, deeply-tribal Moslem country.
In July, six Saudi Al-Qaeda suspects attacked a post on the border with Yemen, killing five security officers.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
took advantage of a collapse of central authority in the wake of the 2011 uprising to seize swathes of southern and eastern Yemen.
The United States considers AQAP to be the global jihadist network's most dangerous affiliate.
Saudi Arabia, which launched a huge crackdown on Al-Qaeda following a spate of deadly attacks in 2003-2006, is building a three-meter (10-foot) high fence along its southern frontier with Yemen to counter illegal crossings and arms smuggling.
Yemen has been wracked by violence since a Shiite militia known as the Huthis seized control of the capital in September.
The snuffies have clashed with local Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda gunnies as they seek to expand their territory.
Several Huthi snuffies were killed and 10 rustics were maimed in fighting on Friday in Arhab, 35 kilometers (20 miles) from the capital Sanaa, according to sources on both sides.
Arhab is close to Sanaa International Airport and is a stronghold of the Sunni Islamist Al-Islah (reform) Party.