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Separatist gunmen kill four soldiers in south Yemen

17 December 2010 03:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Southern separatist gunmen shot dead four soldiers in a raid against a group of military and security staff who were on duty in the southern Yemeni province of Lahj, state-run Saba news agency reported Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

Major Ali al-Ammari and soldiers Jalal al-Samihi, Alezzi al- Jaradi and Samir al-Ramadi were killed by the separatist militants, while another four soldiers were wounded in the raid, Saba quoted an unnamed security official in Lahj as saying.

A security campaign was launched to track the perpetrators to bring them to justice, said the report.

The clash, which erupted Thursday afternoon over a dispute in Al-Habilain market of Lahj between government troops and gunmen of the separatist Southern Movement, also killed a separatist and injured seven local residents, said Mahmoud Muqbil, director of Radfan district.

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

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