The fighting is continuing apace in southeastern Yemen today, with militant forces attacking a pair of army outposts still under the control of the Saleh regime in the Abyan Province today and Yemeni warplanes launching air strikes against the rebel stronghold and provincial capital of Zinjibar.
The attacks, which were near both Zinjibar and Dufas, left 14 militants and three regime soldiers dead, while the air strike killed another three people, reported to all be militants. Other reports of wounded figures varied wildly, and have yet to be confirmed.
The militant faction, calling itself Ansar al-Sharia, has had control over Zinjibar and much of the rest of the province for months, and several military offensives, backed by US air strikes, have failed to reclaim the area.
And while the air strikes continue it seems like the ground offensives in recent weeks have been predominantly by militant factions loyal to the rebel movement, one of many unrelated movements carving out different portions of Yemen for themselves. The regime has shored up its defenses in the major southern city of Aden recently, fearing the Ansar al-Sharia will continue to push toward the old capital of South Yemen.
I have to wonder why the US supports some of its puppets like here in Yemen but not others like in Egypt.