LEMME HEAR YA' SAY, YEMEN!

Yemeni troops launch assault on fugitive Islamist extremists hiding in mountainous region in south Yemen (Hammoud Mounassar, 6/24/03, Middle East Online)

Hundreds of Yemeni troops backed by tanks and helicopters on Tuesday launched an operation in this mountainous region in south Yemen to net a group of fugitive Islamist extremists.

The sweep unfolding in Jabal Hatat, 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of the port city of Aden, was being led by Defence Minister General Abdullah Ali Eleiwah himself, a correspondent reported.

The assault is aimed at netting a group of around 80 extremists accused of having launched Saturday's attack on an army medical convoy that left seven wounded, a military official told journalists at the scene.

The extremists hidden out in the rugged and largely inaccessible region comprises elements from the Islamic Jihad group and the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, as well as sympathisers with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, the official said.

Robert D. Kaplan's recent essay on Yemen is invaluable. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2003 8:35 PM