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Army controls separatist strongholds in south Yemen, soldier killed



09:34, January 11, 2011

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Military forces on Monday regained control of mountainous strongholds surrounding Almilah district in Yemen's southern troubled province of Lahj, after fierce clashes leaving one soldier dead, a provincial military official said.

"Army forces on Monday evening regained control over the whole area of Almilah district, including the mountains surrounding Almilah, Yafie and Radfan, where southern separatist gunmen were entrenched there," the official told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

"Soldier Rasheed al-Subahi was killed and soldier Awath al- Kazimi was wounded early Monday in a shootout with the separatist militants while the army was combing the area and moving towards the mountains of Almilah," he said.

"As we tried to control the area and not to make more bloodshed, we let the militants flee their hideouts without firing at them," he said.

On Saturday, a provincial security official told Xinhua that six soldiers were killed and four others were wounded in clashes between security forces and southern separatists in Almilah district.

Northern and southern parts of Yemen unified in 1990 under a deal between the People's General Congress Party and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart which led to a crisis between the two allies and then turned into a civil war in 1994.

Sanaa has come under mounting pressure from Washington and the international community to solve its internal conflicts and focus on fighting Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing.

Source: Xinhua