Asia

Home page

Asia

19 al-Qaida militants killed by Yemeni army troops

16 June 2012 18:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. As many as 19 militants of the al-Qaida terror group were killed Saturday during gunbattles with army troops in Yemen’s southeastern province of Shabwa, a security official said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The intensive gun fights took place around two major entrances of the al-Qaida-controlled Azzan town in Shabwa province, leaving at least 19 militants killed and several others injured, the local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"Hundreds of army troops are gearing up to begin an all-out offensive on al-Qaida last bastion in Shabwa," the official said, adding "after retaking the terrorists lost two key bastions in neighboring Abyan province, scores of the al-Qaida militants have fled to Azzan town in Shabwa."

Army troops met stiff resistance from the al-Qaida fighters in Azzan, which has been under militant control for more than a year, injuring at least eight soldiers, a military commander said.

"The al-Qaida militants are still confronting the army. They won’t lose their stronghold. Many families had fled since the early morning for fear of air strikes," the military commander told Xinhua anonymously.

Last Tuesday, the Yemeni army backed by pro-government militiamen scored its first major victory against the al-Qaida, retaking the towns of Jaar and Zinjibar in Abyan province, which were captured by the terror group in mid-2011 amid a wave of unrest sweeping the country.

The Yemeni government troops have waged an intensive military campaign last month, with the support of the United States and Yemen’s oil-rich neighbor Saudi Arabia, to uproot the al-Qaida militants from the southern regions.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida wing, locally known as the Partisans of Sharia (Islamic Law), threatened to spread the fight and suicide attacks all over Yemen after it was forced to abandon its main strongholds in Abyan.