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SANAA, Yemen – A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle outside an army barracks insouthern Yemen on Monday, killing four tribal militiamen allied tothe military in an attack aimed at stopping an army advance towarda town held by al-Qaida militants. Government troops are making their way toward the coastal town ofShaqra, one of a string of areas in southern Yemen where al-Qaidamilitants took control over the past year. In recent week, thegovernment has launched an intensified offensive by troops andallied tribal fighters trying to retake the region. On Monday, a suicide bomber in a vehicle drove toward an armybarracks in the town of Umsurra, about 50 kilometers (30 miles)northeast of Shaqra. Troops opened fire on the vehicle, and thedriver detonated his explosives, killing himself and four tribalfighters, the Defense Ministry said. Another suicide bomber blew himself up near an army checkpoint inthe same town, killing only himself, the military said in astatement. It also said that four suspected al-Qaida fighters werearrested in the same area, one of them suspected of being linked tothe first suicide attack, the ministry said. Al-Qaida has increasingly used suicide bombers and car bombs to tryto stop the military offensive in the south, which escalatedstarted May 12. Military officials said that if the military regained control overShaqra, it will be able to cut supplies to militants in Zinjibar,the capital of Abyan province, from al-Qaida strongholds furthereast. Zinjibar and the neaby town of Jaar have been held for over a yearby militants who took advantage of Yemen's political turmoil toseize broad swaths of the south. But Yemen's army claims it hasretaken most of Zinjibar in the recent fighting. Troops continued a slow advance on Jaar, backed by heavy airstrikesand artillery shelling. They say militants are entrenched in thetown after most of the civilian population fled. Clashes on Monday between the military and al-Qaida raged for about45 minutes left six militants and one soldier dead, militaryofficials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line withregulations. Earlier this week, Yemeni warplanes attacked a militantcommunications station near Shaqra which was used by al-Qaida todirect operations using the Internet, wireless communications and asatellite telephone. The raid killed three militants and woundedseven. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the ArabianPeninsula, was behind the failed Christmas 2009 attempt to bomb anAmerican airliner as well as a foiled attempt the following year tomail package bombs to the United States. I am an expert from aluminum-slidingdoors.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Revolving Shoe Rack , Louvered Closet Doors, Rotating Clothes Rack,and more.
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