Al-Qaeda captures coastal town in S. Yemen: Residents

By Shukri Hussein

ADEN, Yemen (AA) - Al-Qaeda militants on Saturday morning wrested control of Ahwar, a coastal town in Yemen’s southern Abyan province, according to local witnesses.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, one Ahwar resident said that Al-Qaeda elements had "deployed at the town’s entrances and in the streets, while posting fighters on the rooftops of government buildings".

Early Saturday, he added, Al-Qaeda militants had "exchanged fire with security forces at the town’s eastern entrance, killing three members of the popular resistance forces loyal to [President Abd Rabbu Mansur] Hadi".

The same source said that after Al-Qaeda militants had attacked the home of Aqeel Lathaf, a local tribal headman and a leader of Ahwar’s popular resistance, the latter had fled with his entourage to an unknown location.

In recent weeks, self-styled "popular resistance committees" in Ahwar, backed by local tribesmen, have reportedly killed several Al-Qaeda militants, most recently on Feb. 13.

Ahwar is located some 175 kilometers from Zinjibar, regional capital of Yemen’s southern Abyan province.

Known for putting up stiff resistance to Al-Qaeda, the town sits on the coastal road linking Yemen’s Aden and Hadhramaut provinces to neighboring Oman.