Battle of Radda

The Battle of Radda was a military confrontation in March 2013, initially launched by Al-Qaeda in an apparent reprisal for the Yemen army's offensive against their stronghold of al-Manasseh following the collapse of talks to free the three Western hostages believed to be held in the area, of whom a Finnish couple and an Austrian man who were studying Arabic in Yemen, when they were snatched by local tribesmen in the capital city of Sanaa, where they were then sold to al-Qaeda militants and transferred to the southern province of al-Bayda, where the city of al-Manasseh is located.