Sana'a - Yemeni security forces raided a village in southern Yemen Monday and arrested five people believed to have links to militants accused of carrying last month's car bomb attack that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis, security officials said. The officials said the predawn raid targeted more than a dozen suspects in the Moudiya district of Abyan province, 550 kilometres south-east of Sana'a.
"Five suspects were arrested in the operation, and nine others managed to escape," said the official, spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said no one was injured in the raid, in which security forces were backed by helicopter surveillance.
This is the second raid against suspected al-Qaeda militants, since the July 2 car bombing of the Spanish tourist convoy near an archaeological site in Marib, some 190 kilometres north-east of Sana'a.
On Wednesday, security forces raided a village in Marib and killed four suspected al-Qaeda members believed to have been involved in the tourist attack. Among the slain suspects were two fugitives listed by police among ten men accused of plotting the July 2 attack.
Yemeni government officials have blamed the car bomb attack on the terrorist network al-Qaeda, and identified the suicide attacker as Abdu Muhammad Rahiqa, 21.
