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| Arabia |
| 97 soldiers accused of attacking Yemeni ministries |
| 2012-08-30 |
| [Yemen Post] A front man of the Military Committee formed under the GCC-mediated power deal has revealed that 97 soldiers are accused of attacking ministries of defense and interior. General Ali Saeed Obaid affirmed that the 62 soldiers were referred to the military judiciary while the other 35 are still being investigated. Obaid affirmed that the committee could achieve important steps in the field of security and stability, pointing out that gangs started to set up illegal checkpoints in some streets of the capital Sana'a and wear military uniforms. He affirmed that the committee will hunt the gangs and arrest them, denouncing, in the meantime, the liquidation attempt against Secretary General of the Yemeni Socialist Party Yaseen Saeed Noman. Noaman survived an liquidation attempt two days after the Transportation Minister Waeed Bazeeb survived liquidation in the port city of Aden. The Yemeni capital, Sana'a, has witnessed a state of loose security as crimes of killing and weapon carrying increased after a year of pro-democracy protests that swept the country. The Interior Ministry has declared a ban on weapons carrying inside cities, but gunnies are still seen roaming with AK-47 assault rifles, hunting rifles and pistols inside Sana'a streets. Though Yemenis live on less than two dollars a day, Yemen has the second most heavily armed population in the world, unofficial statistics say. An average civilian casualty rate of about 4000 people per year due to gun violence, the statics say. Yemen's interior ministry estimates there are about 60 million firearms in Yemen, or about three for every citizen. Government efforts to take weapons out of peoples' hands have been unsuccessful. |
| Posted by:Fred |