Sana'a: A senior Yemeni official says government troops have killed 12 militants and retaken control of a southern town after several days of fighting with rebels.
Deputy Interior Minister Lieutenant General Saleh Hussain Al Zouari says the Yemeni army began its assault on the town of Lawder after 11 soldiers were killed in an ambush on Friday. Al Zouari said yesterday the militants killed in the fighting were members of Al Qaida.
Meanwhile, Yemeni authorities have claimed regaining control of the southern town of Lawder, a great part of which was in the grip of suspected Al Qaida militants during days of clashes with the army.
"Security authorities have done their job efficiently and professionally," Deputy Interior Minister General Saleh Al Zaweri said late on Tuesday in a statement carried by the Saba state news agency.
‘Runaway elements'
He said that security forces have "stormed the dens of the terrorists" in Lawder, in the province of Abyan, and were "chasing the runaway elements."
"Security forces have taught the terrorists of Al Qaida a hard lesson and inflicted painful hits on them, forcing those terrorist elements that tried to hide, to flee after dozens were killed and wounded," he added.
Zaweri said that more than 12 suspected Al Qaida militants were killed in the fighting which started on Friday. A news agency tally based on official and medical sources had put the total death toll on Tuesday at some 33 people.
Other security officials in Abyan also said that Al Qaida's fatalities were 12, and that all were Yemenis, Saba said. Authorities had said that Adel Saleh Hardaba, whom they described as the Al Qaida second-in-command in Lawder, was among the dead.
