34 Reported Killed In Attacks On Al-Qaeda Militants In Yemen

Media reports and Yemeni officials said at least 29 people have been killed in a 48-hour period in a joint attack by Yemeni and U.S. forces on suspected al-Qaeda militants in the southern part of Yemen.

The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya broadcaster said on March 22 that Yemeni government forces and U.S. vessels bombarded outposts belonging to the militants near Zinjibar, the capital of the southern province of Abiyan.

The broadcaster also reported that elsewhere on March 22, Yemeni government forces killed five al-Qaeda-affiliated radicals in an attack in the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

Meanwhile, also on March 22, Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch said that it had killed an American teacher because he was spreading Christianity.

American Joel Shrum died on March 18.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa