Militants take over parts of city then withdraw in 'show of force'

Islamist militants launched a surprise dawn attack yesterday on a city in southern Yemen, seizing entire districts for nearly 12 hours before withdrawing to farmlands on the outskirts.

Yemeni security officials said one soldier was killed and three were wounded in fighting between the militants and government troops in Houta, the capital of Lahj province.

The militants, believed to number between 150 and 200 and to include al-Qaeda members, controlled several areas in the southern part of Houta before they pulled out, the officials said. There was no immediate explanation for their pull-back, but residents reached in the city suggested that the attack could have been meant as a show of force.

The Yemeni security officials said bands of militants drove through some neighbourhoods in the southern port city of Aden early yesterday, opening fire on security forces.

Islamist militants, taking advantage of more than four months of political upheaval in Yemen, attacked and seized two other southern cities in Abyan province in late May.

Massive anti-regime protests have swept much of the country since February, and rival forces are squaring up to each other in the capital, Sanaa, after days of fierce street fighting earlier this month.

The capture of Zinjibar and Jaar in Abyan and yesterday's attacks in Houta and Aden suggest a further weakening of the central government's authority that, if left unchecked, could cause the impoverished nation in the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula to unravel or fall deeper into chaos.

However, it is also clear that the regime of president Saleh regards al-Qaeda and associated groups as useful in clinging to power.

By playing on the fears of the West and the Saudis that another Somalia could emerge if a power vacuum were to form, they believe they can buy themselves some time.