Yemeni air force jets hit an al Qaeda stronghold town in the south of the country Monday, killing seven civilians when they mistakenly struck a mosque, a local official said. "The Yemeni air force accidentally shelled a mosque in Jaar, killing seven people and wounding five others," the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
"The air force hit the Grand Mosque in Jaar whereas the target was a small mosque held by suspected al Qaeda militants," situated on the edge of the town, said the official. A medical official in Al-Razi hospital in Jaar confirmed the toll and witnesses said that another raid targeted the hospital, wounding two more people.
Later on Monday, the army targeted the hospital again, killing two al Qaeda suspects and wounding another two, the head of Jaar's local administration Naser al-Mansari told AFP. The shells hit the hospital's entrance and its northern wing where the power generator is located, witnesses said. A doctor from Al-Razi hospital contacted by AFP said: "The medical staff fled from the hospital after the first strike. We don't know what happened now."
Air strikes also targeted the town's court and a police station while Al-Faruq school was completely destroyed, witnesses said. Local official Mohsen Salem Saeed said the death toll had risen and confirmed the hospital bombing adding that the air force attacked Mount Jaar, where the armed extremists have taken refuge.
"The raids were randomly launched, leaving casualties among civilians and al Qaeda militants alike. It is a humanitarian catastrophe," he said. Jaar, home to around 30,000 people, lies 12 kilometres (seven miles) north of Abyan province's capital Zinjibar, most of which was seized in May by Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law), an organisation linked to the al Qaeda network.