Gunmen kill security officer, another escapes

Clashes between army and tribesmen kill 11 in Mareb

Saeed Al Batati, Correspondent

Sana’a: Unidentified men targeted two security officials in the capital on Tuesday, signalling the deteriorating security situation that the capital is going through in recent months.

Armed men assassinated on Tuesday afternoon Brig Fadhel Al Radhfani, an army official who works as an adviser to the ministry of defence. Local sources said that masked motorbike-borne assailants gunned down Al Radhfani near the ministry in Sana’a.

Another army official escaped an assassination bid by unidentified gunmen on Monday in Dar Bani Suleem district, southern Sana’a. Brigadier Samer Al Gharbani, an official at the Republican Guard, is said to be in critical condition at one of the capital’s hospitals.

Also in the capital, security forces foiled an attempt by some Al Qaida members to blow up a car belonging to a soldier in the Central Security unit. The ministry of defence news site said that police arrested a man trying to put two bombs under the soldier’s car. Yemen’s capital has recently seen a surge in crimes, mainly assassination attempts targeting foreigners and security officials.

Meanwhile. fierce clashes between the Yemeni army and tribesmen broke out on Tuesday in the central province of Mareb, killing at least 11 people from both sides, local sources said. The clashes began when the armed tribesmen tried to prevent engineers from repairing oil and gas pipelines. Local media sources said that the army used tanks, cannons and rockets in shelling the tribesmen’s position in Wadi Haban in Saraweh district. Nine armed men and two soldiers were reportedly killed in the battles.

The ministry of defence said that the clashes erupted when tribal mediation failed to convince the tribesmen to allow the engineers to repair the pipelines and the army forces managed to repel an attack by the tribesmen. The ministry said that five of the armed men were killed and three soldiers injured in the clashes. The oil-rich province of Mareb is predominately controlled by local tribesmen and Al Qaida members who challenged the central government by blowing up oil pipelines and electricity infrastructure.

source