DEATH TOLL IN YEMENI CLASHES RISES

127 KILLED IN 2 DAYS OF
CLASHES IN SOUTHERN YEMEN

Sanaa, Yemen (AP) - Heavy clashes overnight between al-Qaida-linked militants and the Yemeni military in the country’s south have killed 63 people, bringing the two-day death toll in the fighting to 127. The latest fighting points to escalating hostilities between the government and militants linked to the terror network who have sought to take advantage of the turmoil roiling the country since a popular uprising began early last year against longtime authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. The militants seized control of towns in the lawless south and staged attacks against government troops there and elsewhere in the impoverished Arab nation. The military officials said the fighting that broke out in the town of Lawder in Abyan province early Monday spilled over into Tuesday, with the army shelling militant hideouts in an effort to prevent them from sending reinforcements.

They said 56 militants, four soldiers and three tribal fighters were killed overnight and early Tuesday. Fighting also erupted Tuesday along the border of Shabwa and Marib provinces, where militants ambushed an army post. Eight soldiers and three militants were killed in that attack, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Al-Qaida was once present in Lawder, but in July residents drove them out. A few months later al-Qaida was blamed for planting a roadside bomb that killed two civilians there, and, as Monday’s attack demonstrates, they continue to try to regain their foothold. For the militants, Lawder is a strategic city. It lies along a major highway that links Abyan’s provincial capital of Zinjibar, an al-Qaida stronghold, to the provinces of Hadramawt, Bayda and Shabwa where the group is active. The area is now a patchwork of government- and militant-controlled towns.

At least 127 people were killed in 48 hours of fighting between Yemeni troops and Al-Qaeda militants around the city of Loder in Abyan province in the country's restive south, military and tribal sources said. The fighting surged after Al-Qaeda militants attacked army barracks. Al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch has exploited the country's political turmoil to seize territory in the south of the impoverished Arab nation. There is no peace in the world: Men hate each other and new struggles and wars occur.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The material world is compared to davanala, a forest fire. As we have experienced, no one goes to the forest to set a fire, but still it takes place. ... So you may try your best to live very peacefully, but nature will not allow you. There must be war. And this warlike feeling is always going on, not only between nation and nation, but also between man and man, neighbor and neighbor - even between husband and wife and father and son. This warlike feeling is going on. This is called davanala, a forest fire. No one goes to the forest to set fire, but automatically, by the friction of dried bamboo, sparks arise, and the forest catches fire. Similarly, although we do not want unhappiness, by our dealings we create enemies, and there is fighting and war. This is called samsara-davanala.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Journey of Self-Discovery”
“The Bona Fide Spiritual Master”
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International