Twelve Yemeni soldiers have died in two days of clashes with gunmen suspected of being al Qaeda militants, a local official said, the latest in a string of attacks on security personnel in south Yemen since June. Most of those assaults have been claimed by al Qaeda, which has stepped up attacks on Yemeni security forces in recent months, marking a widening of tactics for the global militant group's Yemen arm, which previously focused on foreign targets, according to Reuters. On Friday, clashes were renewed between security forces and gunmen believed to be in al Qaeda, resulting in the death of eight soldiers. A military vehicle was also burned in the clashes, which took place in the southern province of Abyan. Four soldiers died of their wounds in clashes with gunmen in the same area on Thursday. Security forces on Thursday blamed al Qaeda for the Abyan clashes, as well as a Wednesday attack on a Yemeni police station and an assassination attempt on the chief investigator of another south Yemen province. At midnight on Wednesday, an attacker on a motorbike threw a hand grenade at the city of Jaar's police station before speeding away. Five policemen seriously wounded in the attack. Separately on Thursday, the chief investigator of the flashpoint province of Dalea survived an explosion from a bomb planted on his vehicle, but was not in critical condition, a security official said.
