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Smoke is seen rising from a room at the top of al-Jumhori hospital in Sanaa - Source: Reuters -
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An al Qaeda suspect tried to shoot his way out of hospital in
Yemen's capital and killed a guard, while security forces and
separatists clashed in the south of the country with five
wounded.
The suspected al Qaeda militant snatched a gun from one of two
intelligence agents guarding his room and opened fire, a hospital
administrator said.
One of the agents was killed and the other wounded, a security
official said.
A Defence Ministry website identified the suspect, who was
apprehended, as a German citizen of Somali origin.
More gunmen opened fire at the hospital gate as the al Qaeda
suspect tried to escape, the administrator added.
"I saw smoke rising from the window of one storey of the hospital,
and heard the screams of people who were inside," said a
journalist, who was at the hospital when shooting erupted.
Yemen became a major Western security concern after the Yemen-based
regional arm of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a failed
attempt to bomb a US-bound plane in December.
Hospital sources said the suspected militant was apprehended, but
the gunmen at the hospital gate escaped.
A security official said the suspect had been among 11 al Qaeda
suspects held this week in the capital Sanaa.
Western allies and neighbouring Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda is
exploiting instability in impoverished Yemen to recruit and train
militants for attacks in the region and beyond.
Yemen has stepped up control of tens of thousands of Somali
refugees after Somali Islamist rebels said in January they were
ready to send reinforcements to al Qaeda in Yemen.
As well as fighting al Qaeda, Yemen is trying to contain separatist
tension in the south and end a northern Shiite insurgency.
Last month, facing international pressure to focus on al Qaeda,
Sanaa declared a truce in the northern conflict.
Southern clashes
In south Yemen on Sunday, security forces clashed with separatist
gunmen who blocked an intercity road, and five people were wounded
in the ensuing gun-battle near the city of Dalea that was the scene
of clashes on Saturday.
And in the southern city of Zinjibar, a man was killed when an
explosive device he was trying to set up at the local offices of
the ruling party went off, a party official said.
Escalating violence between government troops and separatists in
Yemen's southern provinces has left several dead on both sides in
recent weeks, even as separate violence in Yemen's north has
eased.
"The southern movement cut off a road linking Dalea to Sanaa and
security forces clashed with them.
The confrontation lasted half an hour," a government official
said, adding the separatists used rocks to block a road between
Dalea and Sanaa.
The official said three security men and two separatists were
hurt.
Residents said all five wounded were security forces.
North and South Yemen united in 1990 but many in the south, site of
most of Yemen's oil facilities, complain northerners have seized
resources and discriminate against them.
Analysts say the government is also using the battle against al
Qaeda to turn on its other opponents in the country.
In Dalea, sporadic gunfire continued to punctuate what residents
described as a shaky calm following unrest on Saturday when troops
raided a number of houses, sparking clashes with armed groups.
At least 15 people were wounded in the unrest.
A government official had said Saturday's violence broke out when
soldiers tried to arrest suspects in the recent killing of a local
intelligence official.
Up to 50 people were arrested in Saturday's sweeps, bringing the number of people arrested over the past month to well over 200.
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