Qaeda militant killed planting bomb

YEMEN: An Al-Qaeda militant was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb he was trying to plant at a central market in the southern town of Loder exploded, a security official told AFP.

Witnesses in the town where a suspected Al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed 12 pro-government militiamen earlier this week said the militant's body was torn to pieces in the blast.

Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has rejected efforts by clerics and tribal chiefs to broker a truce between the government and Al-Qaeda, insisting that the militants must lay down their arms.

The jihadists were driven out of most cities in Abyan province, including Loder, last June in an offensive by troops backed by militia, but Yemeni forces continue to hunt them in the rugged south and east, aided by US drone attacks.

AFP