Yemeni army forces shelled al-Qaida positions, killing 6

Yemen division 2012-3-11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ADEN, Yemen, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni army forces shelled two suspected al-Qaida positions in the southern province of Abyan on Monday, killing at least six militants, including a local leader of the terrorist group, a military official told Xinhua.

The army barracks conducted a heavy bombardment against two hideouts of the al-Qaida members on the outskirts of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

"A foreign local leader of the al-Qaida and five militants were killed during the army shelling on their hideouts in Zinjibar. The dead fighters were buried in the nearby insurgents-controlled town of Jaar," the official said.

In the southern Aden province, government troops and suspected al-Qaida assailants traded machine-gun fire late on Sunday night around the Mansoura central prison, with no immediate reports of casualties, a police officer told Xinhua anonymously.

"This is the second armed attack targeting the jail in less than two weeks. The al-Qaida gunmen are repeatedly attempting to free some of their counterparts held by the government authorities, using force and grenade attacks," the officer said.

Abyan's provincial capital of Zinjibar city along with a number of southern towns have been under al-Qaida control for nearly a year.

Militants of the Yermen-based al-Qaida branch locally known as Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) have been working to bolster their presence in Yemen's restive southern regions, exploiting the weakening of the central government and the security collapse.

Posted in: Abyan, Abyan Governorate, ADEN, al-Qaida, alqaeda, Ansar al-Sharia, Yemen, Zinjibar