Jail escapee killed in shootout with security forces [Archives:2007/1017/Local News]

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January 18 2007

SANA'A, Jan 16 ) The security forces killed one of the political security jail escapees in a shootout on Sunday.

Yasser Al-Humaiqani was one of the top suspects wanted by the government for his involvement in terrorist plots, a Yemeni Interior Ministry official source said.

The security apparatuses listed Al-Humaiqani, from Sabah district, Abyan governorate, among the top terrorists who escaped from the political security detention.

An Interior Ministry official said security forces shot dead Yasser Al-Humaiqani in southern Yemen on Sunday. Two officers were wounded in the clash, he said.

Al-Humaiqani, an Al-Qaeda fugitive, escaped from the jail along with other militants last year. A group of 23 militants tunnelled out of the Sana'a-based political security jail in February 2006. Several members of the group have been killed or arrested, or have surrendered to authorities.

The fugitives included the leaders of the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship Cole and the 2002 attack on the French Supertanker Limburg.

The jailbreak embarrassed the Yemeni government, which is battling Islamist militants, and raised questions about Yemen's security measures among its Western allies. In October 2006, the government troops killed Fawaz Al-Rabe'i and Mohamed Al-Tailami, two Al-Qaeda fugitives who were involved in terrorist operations in the country.
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