SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni forces stormed a hide-out of Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden on Tuesday in the first military action of its kind in Yemen since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Tribal and security sources told Reuters that 12 people from both sides were killed and at least 22 wounded when special forces used helicopters and tanks against the al-Jalal tribe, who were sheltering the militants in Marib province, some 85 miles east of the capital Sanaa.
Tribesmen responded with heavy gunfire and rocket propelled grenades in a three-hour battle in which at least three village houses were destroyed and several military vehicles damaged.
The sources said government forces later entered the village to search for two or three suspected militant leaders and their followers.
They are believed to be members of the al Qaeda network led by Saudi-born bin Laden, sought by Washington as the main suspect in the attacks on New York and Washington.
The official Saba news agency quoted a security source as saying that some people suspected of sheltering the wanted men had been arrested.
A government source told Reuters that tribal chiefs were trying to negotiate an end to the military operation. But the official said the government had refused any mediation and wanted the suspects to be handed over.