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Yemeni warplanes shell al-Qaida-held sites, 4 militants killed

04 June 2012 21:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least four al-Qaida militants were killed when warplanes of the Yemeni air force bombed their positions in the southern province of Abyan on Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Up to six rockets hit the al-Qaida-held sites in the suburbs of the insurgents-controlled town of Shakra, some 50 km away from Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan province, killing at least four terrorists, the local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Hundreds of government soldiers from the counter-terrorism units were preparing to conduct large-scale operations against the al-Qaida hideouts in Shakra town after the air raid, he added.

Residents in the coastal town of Shakra told Xinhua "army officials asked us to avoid approaching or gathering to the al- Qaida positions."

"Main roads are completely blocked either by al-Qaida fighters or army soldiers. The humanitarian conditions in the town are worsening," they said.

Meanwhile, sources close to the al-Qaida terrorist group told Xinhua anonymously that "our fighters have repelled a push by government tanks into a key entrance of Jaar town."

"About three soldiers were killed and six others injured on Monday in Jaar’s main entrance," the sources said.

An army officer confirmed the casualties, saying that "the injured soldiers were taken to a military hospital in neighboring port of Aden."

Earlier in the day, an al-Qaida suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a tribal checkpoint in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan on Monday, killing at least five tribal fighters.

The Yemeni government troops have waged an intensive military campaign, with support of the United States and Yemen’s oil-rich neighbor Saudi Arabia, against several bastions of the al-Qaida terrorist group in Abyan province since last month.

The offensive aimed at recapturing several southern towns and cities seized by the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula during last year’s political chaos.