CTVNEWS

Yemen: 30 al Qaeda suspects die in U.S. airstrikes

The Associated Press Published Thursday, September 1, 2011 9:13AM EDT

Yemenis walk past vendors selling Qat next to the site of anti-government protestors demanding the resignation of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. (AP / Hani Mohammed)

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SANAA, Yemen - Yemeni military and medical officials say 30 al Qaeda suspects have been killed in U.S. airstrikes and clashes with Yemeni soldiers in al Qaeda-held cities in the south.

A military official said that the United States bombed al Qaeda positions Wednesday and Thursday, which militants had seized taking advantage of the political turmoil in the country. Yemen has seen mass protests against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The airstrikes freed a Yemeni military unit besieged in southeast Abyan for several weeks by al Qaeda militants.

A medical official says four Yemeni military officers were also killed in the clashes Wednesday and Thursday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press.