Militants linked to al Qaeda have
released two South Africans kidnapped in the Yemeni city of Taiz in May last
year, according to Reuters. The man and woman were in good health, the local
officials said, declining to give details of where they had been held or how
they were released.
A security official in Taiz
confirmed the couple had been released and said he had no information on the
identity of the kidnappers. Kidnapping of foreigners in Yemen is common, often carried
out by disgruntled tribesmen seeking to press the government to free jailed
relatives or to improve public services, or by Islamist militants linked to al
Qaeda.
Yemen has been grappling with an
Islamist insurgency which took advantage of unrest in 2011 inspired by the Arab
Spring to seize control of some southern cities. The insurgents were beaten
back by government forces but have since regrouped and mounted attacks on
government officials and installations.
Lawlessness in the poor Arabian
Peninsula state has alarmed neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil
exporter, as well as the United States, which increasingly views Yemen as a
front line in its struggle against al Qaeda.
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