Yemeni military offensive against al-Qaeda-linked militants is on hold Assailants riding a motorbike shot dead two Yemeni policemen on Wednesday in the southern town of Daleh, triggering clashes that killed two more people including another policeman, officials said .The two policemen were shot dead by suspected southern secessionists before the police launched a manhunt for the attackers, sparking the shootout in which another policeman and a civilian died, a local source said.
"Ten policemen were wounded. The police have pulled back from the town to calm the situation," the source added.
Residents said the police conducted a number of arrests before their withdrawal, including owners of motorbikes, because the initial attack was carried out by gunmen on motorbikes.
The clashes come after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the southern port city of Aden to demand autonomy in the south, where people have long complained of discrimination.
Elsewhere, the Yemeni army suspended a military operation against al-Qaeda-linked militants in the south on Wednesday, as tribal leaders try to secure the release of three Western hostages being held by Islamists, tribal sources told Arabstoday.
Around 8000 soldiers have taken part in the offensive, which was launched on Monday against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) stronghold in al-Manaseh town of al-Bayda province, south of the capital Sanaa.
The army began its offensive after militants rejected demands to release the hostages being held in the town.
A Finnish couple and an Austrian man were abducted last month by tribesmen in Sanaa. A Yemeni official said they were later sold to al-Qaeda members and transferred to al-Manaseh.
According to the tribal mediators, the Islamist militants demanded that the military immediately halts attacks and retreats to base. A senior government official in al-Bayda said the military operation would resume if the mediation efforts faltered.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi has assured Finland that security forces will "safely secure the release of the hostages," Yemen's state news agency Saba reported on Wednesday.
Saba reported earlier that dozens of al-Qaeda-linked militants had been killed and injured during the offensive, without giving details, while tribal sources estimated around 50 al-Qaeda deaths and two army soldiers being killed during the operation.
"The commanders and soldiers have inflicted severe damage on the terrorists," Saba reported, quoting a military official. "Dozens have fallen, either dead or wounded."