Qaeda attacks Yemen army post, 64 killed

An al-Qaeda attack Monday on a Yemeni army post in the south set off clashes that left 44 people dead and prompted civilians to take up arms alongside the military to beat back the militants, said army officials and residents.

The dawn attack demonstrates how al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen has exploited the political and security turmoil following the country’s yearlong uprising, managing to take control of large swaths of land in the south and staging increasingly bold attacks on the military.

The officials said the militants attacked an army position in the town of Lawder in Abyan province, where al-Qaeda fighters are active. The town is some 250 km southeast of

the capital of Sanaa.

Residents and military officials said 40 militants were killed in the clashes. Additionally, 18 soldiers, including a colonel, were killed, officials said.

Jihad Hafeez, a member of a local anti-al-Qaeda group in Lawder, said six of his men were killed and eight of them were injured in clashes to flush militants out.

Al-Shabab attack in Somalia kills 8
MOGADISHU: A blast rocked a vegetable market in Somalia’s third-largest city, killing at least eight people and wounding at least 15, witnesses said Monday. The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. Baidoa police officer Abdullahi Ahmed said the blast was caused by a roadside bomb. Witness Nur Yusuf said the bomb was concealed in a thermos.