Islam Times - Armed confrontations between the Yemeni army and Al-Qaeda militants

Sanaa (Islam Times) - According to local sources and eyewitnesses, violent confrontations took place between the Yemeni army and security forces and a group of armed people that are said to be al-Qaeda militants. The militants were hiding in the valley of Ubaida in the governorate of Marib, northeast Yemen.
Islam Times correspondent in Yemen stated that the sources mentioned that the combat units of the armed forces, who were deployed in the military area in the Ubaida valley, bombed targets there. An eyewitness, asked not to be mentioned by name, said that he heard series of regular and sporadic explosions. He added, “Later we heard that clashes are taking place between the two sides. The exchange of fire between them was very close”.
It was impossible to verify immediately whether there were dead people or no.
Yet, the Ministry of Interior of Yemen confirmed that the security forces in the governorate of Marib is continuing the costly security campaign in order to arrest the terrorist Hassan Abdullah Al-Aqili and his group, who are accused of assassinating a senior military official on Saturday when he was in a military convoy passing through the Safer refinery.
The Ministry added in a statement published on its website on Thursday that the campaign is imposing a cordon on the region, where the terrorist group are located. It pointed out that the security campaign exchanged fire with the terrorist elements on Wednesday and Thursday in Hareeb area.
The statement did not specify whether there were any casualties.

The Interior Ministry’s statement stated that the security campaign, in which a force of 13 Infantry Brigade is participating, is going to continue in tracking and prosecuting the perpetrators, and that it will never allow them to go unpunished.

Translation By Mayssa Hazimeh