Yemen kills 3 Al-Qaeda suspects

Yemeni troops killed three suspected Al-Qaeda members during overnight clashes around the southern city of Zinjibar, which was seized by the group in May, a military source told Lebanon's The Daily Star on Saturday. "Two members of Al-Qaeda, including a local chief, died when a rocket hit their position in the suburbs of Zinjibar," the source said. In a separate incident, one Al-Qaeda fighter was killed and four others wounded in an exchange of small arms fire, the source added. In May, militants from the Al-Qaeda branch in Yemen who declare themselves the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), took control of Zinjibar, triggering months of fighting between militants and government troops. So far, at least three tribal-mediated negotiation attempts to secure a militants withdrawal have failed. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 90,000 residents displaced. Heavily armed tribes, which play a vital role in Yemeni politics and society, have been joining the army to battle militants linked to Al-Qaeda, who have taken over several regions across the country's south and east.