Yemeni Defense Minister escaped an assassination attempt carried out by angry soldiers in the trouble-torn province of Abyan, local media reported on Saturday.
Angry soldiers fired at the convoy of Ali Nasser Ahmed as he was checking on the forces fighting al-Qaeda militants in the province.
The soldiers are angry because their salaries have not been issued yet. They are all new recruiters, mostly from the tribal militias who have been fighting alongside the army troops for the past couple of months, according to some local sources.
For his part, Jamal al-Aqal, the governor of Abyan who was with the Minister when the assassination attempt occurred, downplayed the importance of the incident saying the soldiers are new recruiters and that they only fired gunshots in the air as a way to express their protests and anger against not issuing their salaries yet.
He stressed that their rightful demands are being considered and that it would be soon settled.