Yemen hits Islamic militants with airstrikes

Last Updated 8:05 a./m. ET

Yemeni warplanes carried out airstrikes Monday on a southern town seized by hundreds of Islamic militants over the weekend, witnesses said, as the political crisis surrounding the embattled president descended into more bloodshed.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has clung to power despite months of daily protests, defections by key allies and international pressure to go, has repeatedly warned that Islamic militants and al Qaeda would seize control of the country if he steps down.

At the same time, he has intensified a crackdown on protesters. Military units loyal to him carried out a fierce assault Monday on the southern city of Taiz, which has been a hotbed of anti-government protests since the start of the uprising in early February. A doctor at a field hospital set up in the city's main protest camp said at least 20 demonstrators were killed.

Saleh's opponents have accused him of allowing the militant takeover of the small town of Zinjibar to try to bolster his argument that he is a key bulwark against al Qaeda and win back support from countries like the United States.

Fighter jets fired at the southern outskirts of the town, and loud explosions were followed by rising columns of smoke, said resident Ali Dahmas, who spoke by telephone.

"It is also disturbing because the positions the army is targeting are residential areas," he said.

Military units battled the militants in Zinjibar overnight and into the morning in an attempt to clear the fighters from the town, where they've blockaded themselves behind barricades and rocks since Friday.

Shelling killed at least four of the fighters, bringing the death toll there since Saturday to 34, according to an official at al-Razi hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to journalists.

"The sound of explosions and bullets are rattling the city," said Waleed Mohammed Mokbal, a resident of the town center. "An exchange of gunfire in nonstop."