7 Yemeni police killed in Al-Qaeda attackApril 1, 2012 - 16:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Al-Qaeda militants killed seven policemen Sunday, April 1 in an attack on a checkpoint in Yemen's southeast, a security official said, a day after clashes between the army and militants left 40 dead, AFP reported. Another security official told AFP that suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen riding a motorbike shot and wounded Colonel Abboud Fadhl, an intelligence officer, in the leg late Saturday in the southern province of Lahij. Al-Qaeda-linked militants from the group Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) have launched a wave of attacks in the region since former president Ali Abdullah Saleh handed power to his deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in February. On Saturday, heavy fighting between the army and Islamist fighters who tried to take over several military posts killed 40 people - 28 soldiers and 12 militants - in Lahij province, officials said. Al-Qaeda members also sabotaged a 320-kilometre (200-mile) gas pipeline linking Marib province to Balhaf terminal on the Gulf of Aden, all in the country's restive south, on Friday. That came shortly after two U.S. drone attacks in eastern Yemen targeted Al-Qaeda suspects, killing seven people, six of them militants, according to an official in Shabwa province. The Partisans of Sharia have exploited a central government weakened by a year of anti-regime protests to strengthen their position, launching deadly attacks against the army especially in the lawless south and southeast. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | 17 bridges collapse as a result of floods in Armenia As a result of floods in Armenia’s northern Lori and Tavush provinces, 17 bridges, including five large ones, have collapsed. Armenia: Top cleric to retain title as he bids to become interim PM Galstanyan said earlier that the interim government would be tasked with stopping the “destruction of our homeland”. Ex-mayor of Karabakh capital arrested in Yerevan Ex-mayor of the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Stepanakert David Sargsyan has been arrested for 20 days. 269 people evacuated amid severe floods in Armenia’s north According to the Interior Ministry, 269 people have been evacuated from their homes in Lori and Tavush provinces. |