Yemen: Shell kills child, injures 7 others

[July 02, 2012]  SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni military officials say a group of children have accidentally set off a shell with which they were playing, killing one and wounding seven others in a southern town that was the scene of fighting between al-Qaida militants and the army.

The officials say the explosion took place Sunday in the town of Jaar and the boy died early Monday.

They spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations.

Landmines laid by al-Qaida fighters and unexploded shells in battlefields have so far killed more than 85 soldiers and civilians around Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, and nearby Jaar since their recapture by the Yemeni army last month. The towns fell over a year ago to militants taking advantage of Yemen's political turmoil.

[Associated Press; By AHMED AL-HAJ]

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