Asia

Asia

Yemen’s army offensive kills three al-Qaida in Abyan: official

04 August 2011 00:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Yemen’s ongoing offensive against resurgent al-Qaida militants overrun entire key city of southern volatile province of Abyan on Wednesday killed three militants and a government soldier, a provincial official said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The official, who asked not to be named, told Xinhua that the three al-Qaida militants and the soldier were killed in the intensified battle between the 119th Military Brigade and militants of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Dio region in the western edge of al-Qaida-seized Zinjibar city, the capital of Abyan.

Reports also confirmed that heavy exchanging fire and shelling left several persons injured from both sides, the official said.

Meanwhile, a new influx of scores of pro-government armed tribesmen from Abyan joined the government 25th Mechanized Brigade in their fight against the AQAP in eastern Zinjibar.

Tuesday’s offensive by the 119th Military Brigade in Khamila area in western Zinjibar killed three Islamist militants and wounded seven others, who all were hospitalized in Razi hospital in Abyan’s city of Jaar, a doctor at the hospital told Xinhua.

Zinjibar, about 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, has been besieged by the 119th Military Brigade from the west and by the 25th Mechanized Brigade from the east as constant battles by the government forces, including Yemeni warplanes, are going on to clean the province.

The fierce battles that flared up after AQAP seized Zinjibar on May 29, have recently forced 90,000 local residents to flee their homes to neighboring port city of Aden, the head of internal displaced people (IDPs) in Aden, Hashim al-Hamly, told Xinhua by phone.