Al-Qaeda figure killed in eastern Yemen

SHABWA, Jan. 13 (Saba) - Security forces in Shabwa province have killed one of the major figures of al-Qaeda in Yemen, Interior
Ministry announced on Wednesday.

An official source in the ministry confirmed the killing of the terrorist so-called
Abdullah al-Mehdhar after a siege has been laid since early Tuesday on his house in
Hawtah
area, Maif'ah district of Shabwa province, eastern Yemen.
The source was quoted as saying that the security forces have also managed to
capture four al-Qaeda members while one soldier was killed in al-Sa'eid area in
clashes between
police and al-Mehdhar's followers, who were trying to end the siege" the source added.
The security forces will keep on hunting the outlaw elements all over the country
until being captured, according to the source.
The security forces have launched a military crackdown on suspected al-Qaeda
fighters and killed dozens of them in the Arhab district, some 40 km from the
capital Sana'a,
and in southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa.
MD/AF