Yemeni court charges 6 al-Qaeda militants

Yemen’s Court of Appeal has charged six suspects accused of affiliating with al-Qaeda, imprisoning them for six years each. Official sources told Arabstoday the court approved an earlier ruling, giving each of the six al-Qaeda member six years imprisonment. Prosecutors accused the defendants of participating in criminal acts, targeting armed and security forces, as well as public and military property through a series of robberies, embassy attacks and “violent actions aiming to destabilise the country.” Yemeni authorities meanwhile detained four other al-Qaeda suspects on Tuesday, after the men were arrested in a car in the south of the country. Defence Ministry sources revealed that investigations were ongoing, but that the suspects had been handed over to the military. Yemen’s army has continued violent clashes with the militant group in southern Yemen, reportedly resulting in the deaths of 25 people.