Brief Gunfight Near U.S. Embassy in Yemen
A gunbattle broke out on Monday near the U.S. embassy in Yemen's capital, but the situation was rapidly brought under control, security sources and witnesses said.
The clash took place around a kilometer (0.6 miles) west of the U.S. mission in Sanaa, a security official said, in an area with a strong presence of security forces.
However, another security official said the area borders on the Musaik neighborhood in central Sanaa, where dormant cells of al-Qaida are believed to be based.
Security sources said the shooting had nothing to do with the U.S. mission, and local residents said the situation was back to normal.
The U.S. embassy and several Western missions closed in August after U.S. warnings of an al-Qaida attack.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has intensified its attacks on security forces in Yemen, taking advantage of the weakening of the Sanaa central government since a popular uprising that toppled president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.
Impoverished Yemen is also awash with personal weapons, while some of its tribes are heavily armed.
Source: Associated Press
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