The al-Qaida militants are using guerilla war and also overnight ambushes."Aden, Yemen (ANTARA News/Xinhua-0ANA) - At least 10 al-Qaida insurgents and two government soldiers were killed during clashes in Yemen`s southern province of Abayn on Saturday, a military official said.
The clashes erupted between al-Qaida militants and government troops after two infantry barracks attempted to advance closely on al-Qaida-held town of Jaar from the northwestern outskirts, the local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
About 10 al-Qaida insurgents and two government soldiers were killed and several others were injured from both sides during the battles, the military official said.
An army commander told Xinhua anonymously that "units of the elite Republican Guard troops engaged Saturday in the fighting against the al-Qaida group in Zinjibar`s neighborhoods."
"The al-Qaida militants are using guerilla war and also overnight ambushes," he said.
The Yemeni government troops have stepped up military operations in Abyan in order to oust al-Qaida militants who have seized control of large swaths in the restive south during the last year.
Government troops and reinforcements of counter-terrorism units assembled by the Yemeni military began last month offensives on al- Qaida bastions in Abyan, but the U.S.-backed push was too slow for thousands of displaced residents whose living conditions were increasingly worsened.
Senior leaders of the Yemeni military, who still maintain a tactical and intelligence relationship with experts of the United States, have vowed to uproot the al-Qaida`s regional bases from every part of Yemen. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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