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Warplanes raid al-Qaida in Yemen’s south, 11 killed

20 April 2012 22:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Yemeni air forces bombarded four squads of the al-Qaida militants on Friday evening in the southern province of Abyan, killing at least 11 terrorists and injuring several others, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Two fighter jets of the air forces raided the al-Qaida-held areas on the outskirts of Lauder town, some 150 km northeast of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, leaving at least 11 terrorists killed and several others injured, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

The al-Qaida militants were planning to attack army barracks in Lauder, the official said, adding that "the army troops took over large parts of the town after fierce battles with the insurgents."

Meanwhile, army troops of the 39th Armored Brigade positioned on the outskirts of Zinjibar unleashed several Katyusha rockets and artillery shells to the city Friday evening following the deadly confrontations, according to an army officer.

"Now we are on the outskirts of Zinjibar. Army troops managed to regain control over some neighborhoods from the al-Qaida by shelling its fighters," the army officer told Xinhua anonymously.

Earlier in the day, the country’s defense ministry said that after fierce clashes with al-Qaida militants, the Yemeni armed forces pushed towards the al-Qaida-held town of Zinjibar in Abyan, leaving at least 18 terrorists killed.

Taking advantage of the year-long political crisis in Yemen, the resurgent Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), locally known as Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), has taken control of several cities and swathes across the country’s restive southern provinces.

Yemen’s newly-elected President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said fighting the AQAP tops his daily agenda.

Military experts fear that security situation in the southern and eastern provinces, home to the country’s oil and gas stockpiles, may worsen as the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch expands its control over the chaos-ridden areas, despite the government’s efforts to reunite the army to intensify battles against the AQAP.