Al-Qaida continues to advance on Yemeni capital

AL-QAIDA militants swept into the Yemeni town of Rada overnight and overran it within hours, marking a significant advance by the extremists towards the capital, officials said yesterday.

The takeover of Rada, 130 kilometres south-east of Sanaa, was the latest in a series of towns and cities — until now in the south and east — to fall as al-Qaida takes advantage of a central government weakened by months of protests.

Several sources in the town said more than 1,000 al-Qaida gunmen invaded Rada, which is within striking distance of a strategic highway connecting Sanaa with the south and southwest.