SANAA, Yemen, May 17 (UPI) -- Yemeni security forces seized 1.5 tons of explosives, including gunpowder and TNT, destined for use in terrorist attacks.
Brig. Abdo Kassimi, security chief in the area of Wissab in the province of Zummar, south of Sanaa, where the arms cache was found, said 1540 kilograms of explosives were discovered, including 20 kilograms of TNT concealed in the car of an area resident.
Kassimi said police were tipped off about the arrival of a shipment of explosives and a suspect was monitored and later arrested with the TNT in his car.
Other suspects managed to flee before the police arrived, but the owner of the warehouse where the explosives were stored was arrested.
Salafi extremist groups have been increasingly active in the past month, and confrontations have resulted in the killing of two people in the province of Ebin, southeast Yemen.
In another development, the Egyptian authorities asked Yemen for information about four Egyptians who worked as teachers in Yemen and who are believed to be among 12 suspects in the bombing of Dahab resort in Sinai last month.
Weekly al-Wasat Wednesday quoted well-informed sources as saying Egypt wants information about the four Egyptian teachers who were dismissed after the Education Ministry adopted a policy of replacing foreigners with local teachers.
The Egyptian request was made by visiting Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who is leading his country's delegation at the Higher Egyptian-Yemeni Committee currently meeting in Sanaa.
Yemen and Egypt said in a joint statement Tuesday that Nazif and his Yemeni counterpart, Abdel Kader Bajamal, reaffirmed the need to coordinate their efforts in combating terrorism and boosting political and economic reforms in the two Arab countries.
