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.