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5 defected soldiers injured, 4 held hostage in north Yemen ambush

13 August 2011 02:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Pro-government armed tribesmen ambushed a patrol of defected army in Yemen’s northern province of Amran on Friday, injuring five soldiers and taking other four as hostage, local councilman said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The ambush took place in Ashmour district in Amran, in which five soldiers of the 310th Armored Brigade of the defected First Armored Division were wounded and four others were taken hostages by the tribal supporters of the ruling party," the local councilman told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, adding the soldiers defected from the government along with the First Armored Division’s commander Ali Mohsenal-Ahmar in March.

It came a day after Major Ismail al-Ghurbani, a commander of the defected 310th Armored Brigade "was assassinated by government supporters in downtown Amran city," according to opposition news website alsahwa-yemen.net.

Tensions grew in the province, some 50 km north of Sanaa, after the government and defected army deployed more troops in vital areas of downtown Amran city, a local security official told Xinhua. Yemen has witnessed political crises since the eruption of protests in mid February, which demand an immediate end to the 33- year-rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.