International media have reported that Yemeni forces surrounded between 25 and 60 al Qaida fighters in a rural village. The surrounded militants rejected mediation efforts by local officials, setting conditions for security forces to besiege the militants in their hiding places. Later reporting indicated Yemeni forces attacked five houses in the village but found them empty. Up to 15,000 civilians have fled the fighting. The US is reported to be providing intelligence and advisory support because the US is determined to prevent al Qaida from exporting more terrorists from Yemen and from developing a base there. The impoverished Yemeni government welcomes the US aid.

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