There was a good deal of excitement in Yemen yesterday when a grenade went off at a police station in the southern city of Dali (Dhale'a) and – depending on whose accounts you choose to believe – up to 40 recently-arrested separatists did or didn'tescape.

Gregory Johnsen, writing for the Waq al-Waq blog, is cynicalabout the whole incident: "This, I believe, is big news simply because something exploded and newspapers and their reporters are enamoured of big bangs."

He points to two other, less-noticed events, which he suggests are more significant. 

One refers to a group of southern soldiers returning from the Saada war who seized a couple of trucks in protest at the ill-treatment of their comrades and the non-payment of wages.

The other is about the theft of 80 million riyals ($355,000) by gunmen who intercepted a car carrying the wages of education and health officials in Lawdar. It is suggested "that the robbers are militants and that the money will ultimately find its way to al-Qaeda".

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 April 2010.