Air strikes in Yemen kill seven civilians

Yemeni air force jets hit an Al-Qaeda stronghold town in the south of the country, killing seven civilians when they mistakenly struck a mosque, a local official said yesterday.

“The Yemeni air force accidentally shelled a mosque in Jaar, killing seven people and wounding five others,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

“The air force hit the Grand Mosque in Jaar whereas the target was a small mosque held by suspected Al-Qaeda militants,” situated on the edge of the town, said the official.

A medical official in Al-Razi hospital in Jaar confirmed the toll and witnesses said that another raid targeted the hospital, wounding two more people.

Air strikes also targeted the town’s court and a police station, said witnesses.

Jaar lies 12 kilometres north of Abyan provinces capital of Zinjibar, most of which was seized in May by Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law), an organisation linked to the Al-Qaeda network.

In another Abyan town, Loder, tribesmen arrested a suicide bomber yesterday as he was planning to blow himself up in a local market, a tribal source said.

The bomber, who was wearing an explosive belt, admitted that he was planning to attack the market in Loder, said the source, adding that the man was linked to Al-Qaeda.

The tribesmen took him to an army camp where the explosives were neutralised, when he alleged that two other bombers were still at large in the town centre, according to the same source.

The town centre was evacuated and armed tribesmen deployed to hunt down the two other suspects, witnesses said.

On Thursday, a bomb-laden car was found and neutralised in the Loder market, tribal sources had said.

Tribesmen said in July that they had cleared the town of Loder of Al-Qaeda members, as south Yemen tribes turned against the militants.