Tribesmen say Yemen town cleared of Qaeda

Armed tribesmen said on Monday that they had cleared the town of Loder, in the south Yemen province of Abyan, of Al-Qaeda members, as south Yemen tribesmen turn against the militants. "Dozens of youths raided a number of sites and residences where armed Al-Qaeda groups were concentrated," one tribal gunman said. This included one house in the centre of the city owned by a man known as "Al-Sudani," in which large quantities of automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and mines were found. Tribal gunmen also said that a "senior leader" of the militants, Salem al-Shayabi, was expelled from the town, and that checkpoints had been set up at its outskirts. No clashes occurred, they said. A number of south Yemen tribes that had close ties to Al-Qaeda have turned against the militant group, after a group believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), took over much of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, in May. Thousands of Zinjibar residents have since been forced to flee fighting between Yemeni security forces and the militants in the city.