6 suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen killed Abyan Province

Yemeni Rebels In recent developments, six suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen have been killed in the south Yemen province of Abyan in an air raid by government forces, a local official and a witness said on Tuesday. The official said the six militants were killed on Monday as Yemeni forces raided several Al-Qaeda posts in the area of Arkub, which was overrun Sunday by armed men suspected of belonging to the jihadist network.
"I saw six bodies on the side of the road, half an hour after the raid," said a witness. Al-Qaeda gunmen have seized control of several areas in the lawless Abyan province, including the provincial capital Zinjibar, Jaar, and Shaqra.
Meanwhile, the body of a suspected suicide bomber was torn into pieces when a booby-trapped motorbike he was riding exploded early Tuesday in Lawder, according to tribal sources. Tribesmen siding with government forces are battling Islamist militants in Abyan, mainly in Zinjibar, where militants have besieged the army's 25th Mechanised Brigade base since May. The international community has expressed fears that the power vacuum in the impoverished country could play into the hands of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local branch of the network.
AQAP was behind several attacks, including the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow a US airliner over Detroit in 2009. Yemen has been gripped by political turmoil since an uprising against the 33-year-old rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, now recovering from bomb blast wounds, erupted in January. Hundreds have died in battles between security forces and protesters, and between security forces and Al-Qaeda fighters.The speaker of Yemen's appointed upper house of parliament has died in Saudi Arabia from injuries suffered in a June assassination attempt on President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Abdul Aziz Abdul-Ghani, the chairman of Yemen's Shura (Consultative Council) is the first senior political figure to have died from the explosion in Saleh's palace mosque which forced the president and a number of his aides to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
A former prime minister and vice president of North Yemen before the unification of Yemen in 1990, Abdul-Ghani was appointed the chairman of the Consultative Council in 2003. Abdul-Ghani's body is scheduled to arrive in Yemen on Tuesday for a burial on Wednesday in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. Yemen, an impoverished country of 23 million at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has been in turmoil since January when protesters took to the streets demanding Saleh leave office. Saleh who was seriously wounded in the June attack is still receiving medical treatment in Riyadh. There are conflicting reports about whether he intends to return to Yemen.
A massive demonstration was held on Monday in the Taiz province in southern Yemen to celebrate the Libyan revolution and also to demand Saleh's prosecution and the prompt removal of his regime. "This rally is to show our happiness and send our greetings to the Libyan people for this tremendous and historical step," said protestor Alwan al-Qubati. In other news, Yemen's prime minister will return home later on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia, reports Reuters. Ali Mohamed Megawar has been recovering from injuries suffered in a June assassination attempt on President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Ali Mohamed Megawar will be the first senior politician injured in the blast to go back to Yemen after undergoing medical treatment in the neighbouring country.