Al-Qaida kills five policemen in S Yemen

 The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch late on Friday killed five Yemeni policemen, including a high-ranking officer, hours after they took over several government buildings and banks in the southern province of Abyan, a local security official said.

"Colonel Kasim al-Sheikh and four policemen were gunned down by militants of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) hours after the latter stormed Zinjibar, the provincial capital city of Abyan," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier on Friday, another government official said that "fighters of AQAP defeated government forces on Friday following fierce clashes in Zinjibar and controlled almost the whole strategic city including the government facilities, including two state-run banks."

Since the eruption of the four-month-long anti-government protests aimed at ousting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, the AQAP has launched many sporadic attacks on Zinjibar.

Abyan, some 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, is a key stronghold of resurgent AQAP which has carried out frequent attacks against Yemeni security and military personnel since 2009.

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