Sana'a, Yemen - A policeman was killed and two others injured in clashes with members of an Islamist militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, police sources said. The fighting broke out in Khanfar district of the southern province of Abyan after around 30 armed members of the Jihad group attacked a police compound in an attempt to free a detained comrade, the sources told the German Press Agency dpa.
Security forces set up blockades on roads and began a manhunt for the attackers, who fled to mountains.
Abyan, some 70 kilometres east of the southern port city of Aden, is one of the strongholds of al-Qaeda and other Yemeni Jihadist groups.
Authorities believe that dozens of members of al-Qaeda and other Jihadist groups are taking shelter in remote areas of Abyan and three other lawless provinces where they have found support among tribal chieftains.
