Yemen militants seize weapons factory

ISLAMIC militants seized control of a weapons factory, a strategic mountain and a nearby town in the southern Yemen province of Abyan as a political stalemate in the capital causes security to unravel around the country.

The fragile nation has been rocked by weeks of mass protests against the long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who refuses to step down.

With Saleh’s attention on massive anti-government protests in the capital, security has declined in the provinces. Police in the Abyan province had reportedly reduced their presence weeks ago.

Elsewhere, residents have pushed out police and soldiers and set up their own local militias for self-defence.

In the areas they took over, the militants set up checkpoints around the small factory and in the town of al-Husn, patrolling the streets and searching cars.

The instability highlights the unravelling security situation throughout Yemen as a stalemate ensues between the country’s president of 32 years and hundreds of thousands of citizens who want him to go.

They have camped in cities and towns for weeks, demanding his removal, inspired by the wave of people power sweeping across the Middle East.