Airstrikes kill 7 at Yemen mosque

Sep 5, 2011, 20:43 GMT

Sana9a, Yemen- The Yemeni air force mistakenly attacked a mosque in Jiar in the southern part of the country on Monday, killing at least seven civilians and injuring five others.

Local sources said the Yemeni air force carried out two airstrikes on Abyan province as part of its efforts against al-Qaeda elements in the area.

The raid was supposed to hit a small mosque occupied by al-Qaeda militants, but instead hit the city's main mosque, a local hospital and a police building, according an earlier report by broadcaster al-Jazeera.

A number of Somali al-Qaeda-linked militants have recently arrived in Abyan to fight with their al-Qaeda fellows in a tactical withdrawal from Somalia, a local source from Aden told dpa on condition of anonymity.

Clashes also erupted Monday in the southern Taiz province, which has seen sporadic skirmishes between government forces and gunmen supporting anti-regime protesters. No deaths or casualties have been reported.

Protesters were organizing large demonstrations across the country for Tuesday to call for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and members of his family who still hold senior military positions.

The opposition has in recent days called for stepped up protests against Saleh's 33-year regime after news report said that the president, who is currently in Saudi Arabia undergoing treatment for wounds he sustained during an attack in June, is due to come back to Yemen in the coming weeks.

Yemen has been gripped by protests since late January calling for Saleh's ouster.

In response, officials closed roads into the capital over the weekend, while hundreds of thousands of anti-Saleh demonstrators rallied in four Yemeni provinces Sunday. Four people were reportedly injured in Sana'a by police using live ammunitions and tear gas to suppress the protesters.