Yemen: Six ‘Suspects’ Killed in Air Strikes

Attacks Hit Targets in Abyan, Maarib

by Jason Ditz, December 14, 2012

Yemeni officials say a pair of air strikes against the Abyan and Maarib Provinces have killed at least six people and wounded 12 others. None of the victims were named but all were labeled “al-Qaeda suspects.”

There has been fighting all week in both provinces, with tribesmen battling one another in Maarib and Ansar al-Sharia taking over a military post in the Abyan Province, which they ruled for much of the past year.

Yemen insists Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaeda are the same thing, and has tended to refer to any victims of air strikes by their own or US forces as “suspects,” leaving the identities in doubt for the time being.

There was also a bombing in the Hadramout Province overnight, targeting an oil well belonging to the Calvalley Petroleum Company. The well was a fairly small one, and the company says production will resume once repairs are completed.

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