Two Militants Declared Killed, Three More Embassies Closed in Yemen

The situation in Yemen became more heated Monday as Yemeni forces clashed with suspected al-Qaida operatives, killing two and reportedly wounding a few more 25 miles from the capital city of San’a. According to The New York Times, Yemeni officials linked the militants they targeted in Monday’s fight to ongoing threats against U.S. and British embassies in their country.  —KA

The New York Times:

Those embassies remained closed on Monday for a second day, and the French, German and Japanese embassies also closed.

The Yemeni forces were tracking Nazih al-Hanq, whom they suspected of belonging to the regional terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, when they came under fire in the city of Arhab, the officials said. They said that two of Mr. Hanq’s bodyguards were killed and perhaps three others wounded, but that Mr. Hanq escaped in the area between the villages of Al Hanq and Beit Boussan.

Arhab was the site of one of several strikes against militants on Dec. 17 that came after American officials, working closely with Yemeni authorities, obtained information that four suicide bombers were aiming at Western targets in Yemen. The strikes killed three of the suspected bombers and damaged two Qaeda training camps.

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AP Photo

Security blockades are seen outside the entrance to the British embassy in San’a, Yemen on Monday.