'Forty militants' killed in Yemen

6 July 2011 Last updated at 12:53 GMT The opposition has demanded that the military do more to protect the people of Abyan Forty militants have been killed in two days of air strikes by Yemeni forces in the southern province of Abyan, Yemen's state news agency Saba says.

Two soldiers were also killed as Yemeni troops retaliated against al-Qaeda militants who stormed army camp.

The unrest is part of widening chaos in Yemen since protests broke out in February against the 33-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

He is being treated in Saudi Arabia after an attack on his palace in June.

Speaking in Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said the health of the Yemeni president was "generally good".

He gave no further details on the 64-year-old leader's condition or plans.

Southern clashes

A battle has been raging for weeks in the southern town of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, where militants have exploited the political vacuum to move into Zinjibar and the town of Jaar. Thousands have fled to neighbouring Aden province.

Opposition groups accuse the Sanaa government of failing to secure the area to play up a jihadist threat in an attempt to shore up Western support for Mr Saleh as the guardian of Yemen's stability.

Mr Saleh has refused to sign a Gulf-mediated transition plan that would see him step down from power in return for immunity from prosecution for the deaths of dozens of protesters in the five-month uprising against his regime, which the opposition views as authoritarian, corrupt and nepotistic.

Western diplomats in Sanaa have said there is little chance Mr Saleh will return, but Yemeni officials insist that no transfer of power will take place until he is back on Yemeni soil.

Tribal fighting in the capital in May pushed the country to the brink of a civil war, while the violence raging in the south has sparked fears of a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished and unstable Gulf Arab republic.

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Three US soldiers killed in Iraq

30 June 2011 Last updated at 12:13 GMT The US soldiers' role is to advise and assist Iraq's security forces in fighting insurgents Three US soldiers were killed in action in southern Iraq on Wednesday, the military has said.

The deaths make June the deadliest month for American soldiers in the country in two years.

The US military said they died as the result of a "hostile event" but gave few further details.

However, one report said the three died when a rocket hit a US base near the Iranian border.

An unnamed US military official quoted by the Associated Press said that the type of weapon used bore the hallmarks of a Shia militia with strong links to Iran.

The independent icasualties count of US service member fatalities in Iraq now stands at 4,469.

US fatalities in Iraq have been rare since Washington officially ended combat operations in the country last August, leaving about 45,000 troops.

The role of the US army, which is due to pull out of Iraq on 31 December, is to advise and help the security forces.

But both US and Iraqi governments are now considering extending the deadline of troops leaving the country partly, analysts say, to counter Iran's influence.

There have been several attacks blamed on Shia militias aiming to force the military out.

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'Al-Qaeda allies killed' in Yemen

19 June 2011 Last updated at 14:54 GMT Yemeni troops have killed 12 suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants near the southern Islamist stronghold of Zinjibar, officials say.

The militants were targeted as they planted roadside bombs, a military official told AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, two soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked an army base in the area, the unnamed official added.

Analysts say al-Qaeda is exploiting a power vacuum left by months of protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

More marches demanding Mr Saleh's resignation were held on Sunday in the capital Sanaa and the restive southern city of Taiz.

Failed mediation

Militants last month wrested Zinjibar - the capital of Abyan province - from government control, which correspondents said suggested a further weakening of the central government's authority.

Massive anti-regime protests have swept across Yemen since February

Mr Saleh, the country's president of nearly 33 years, is in Saudi Arabia for treatment for wounds he suffered in a rocket attack on his compound in Sanaa this month.

Massive anti-regime protests have swept across Yemen since February.

After months of largely peaceful protest, the crisis has escalated in recent weeks, with government forces and heavily-armed tribesman fighting pitched battles in Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) have offered to mediate a peaceful resolution to Yemen's political crisis, but efforts thus far have failed.

Analysts fear that, left unchecked, the worsening security situation could cause the impoverished nation to fall deeper into chaos.

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