‘Westerner’ among seven IS suspects arrested in Yemen: Police

Yemeni authorities  arrested seven Islamic State (IS) group suspects on Saturday, including one “Westerner”, in second city Aden, said a police officer.

The arrests are part of a government offensive against  the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, which have claimed a wave of deadly attacks in recent months in Yemen’s south and southeast. Among these were twin bombings claimed by IS that hit loyalist forces in Aden on Monday, killing at least 41 people.

“We arrested seven Daesh (IS) members, among them a Western Muslim, in Mansura” district of Aden, said officer Munir al-Yafie, who took part in the raid, without giving further details.

Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have exploited the power vacuum created by more than a year of conflict between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels to expand their zones of control in Yemen.

Government forces drove the rebels out of the port city of Aden and other southern provinces since July with support from the Saudi-led coalition.