Yemeni forces free hostages, kill al-Qaida kidnappers
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E-mail Xinhua, November 25, 2014
Yemeni counter-terrorism forces freed seven Yemeni hostages and one foreigner and killed seven al-Qaida kidnappers in a special operation on Tuesday morning, official Saba news agency reported.
One soldier was lightly wounded in the raid, Saba said, citing a statement by the country's supreme security committee. However, the committee did not say when or where the kidnapping took place, nor disclosed the nationality of the foreigner.
Earlier this month, a Sierra Leonean employee of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was freed unharmed after being kidnapped more than one year by unidentified Yemeni gunmen.
The security situation in the Arab country worsened after a political upheaval broke out in 2011 and severely weakened the government's control.
Foreigners have since been frequently kidnapped by al-Qaida militants or tribesmen who ask for ransoms or the release of their jailed fellows.
Most of the hostages have been freed unharmed. In January, al-Qaida militants released a South African woman in the southern province of Abyan, but a ransom of millions of U.S. dollars was demanded for the release of her husband, who was abducted in May last year, according to local media. Endit
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