Yemen arrests local al-Qaeda chief and 5 militants

Suspected Yemeni al-Qaeda militants attend first court hearing in Sanaa Sanaa – Ali Rabea Yemeni forces have arrested a local al-Qaeda chief, along with five militants, in the south-eastern province of Hadramawt, where the army is pressing an offensive against the group, the defence ministry said on Monday.
Security forces captured Omar Ashour, al-Qaeda chief in Ghayl Bawazir, about 30 kilometres east of the port city of Mukalla, along with his son Abdullah in the nearby village of Shaheer, the ministry said in a statement.
The pair were arrested on Saturday, a security official said, as security forces pushed ahead with an operation against al Qaeda militants who recently seized control of some villages in the area.
But militants opened fire on troops as they stormed a farm belonging to Ashour in Ghayl Bawazir following his arrest, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others.
Security forces also arrested four more Al-Qaeda suspects in the nearby town of Boqshan, the ministry said, without specifying when they did so.
Al-Qaeda fighters have been regrouping in areas of Hadramawt since June 2012 after being forced out of the southern province of Abyan, where they ruled major towns for about a year.
Residents of Ghayl Bawazir said last month the Jihadists had taken advantage of an absence of security forces in the area to deploy in strength and had distributed leaflets declaring their rule.
On the other hand, local sources in Hadramawt questioned the official accusing of Ashour for being al-Qaeda local chief, saying he worked as a director in port between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and his son only sympathised with the organisation - not enough to justify the charges against them.