2 Troops, 6 Qaida Militants Killed in S. Yemen Clashes

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Fighting between al-Qaida-linked militants and government forces in southern Yemen killed two soldiers and six Islamists on Sunday, military and local officials said.

Yemen's army has for months been battling fighters from the Islamist group Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), trying to retake control of Zinjibar, capital of the restive Abyan province.

"Two soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded in battles" between the army and extremists on the eastern outskirts of Zinjibar, where the military managed to gain ground early on Sunday, an army official said.

Meanwhile, six of the extremists, including an Afghan, were also killed in the clashes, a local official in the adjacent town of Jaar -- an al-Qaida stronghold -- told Agence France Presse.

Yemeni government forces have been backed by tribal fighters and sometimes supported by U.S. drone strikes in their fight against the Partisans of Sharia, which has controlled most of Zinjibar since May.

Al-Qaida has profited from the instability caused by 11 months of protests against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, strengthening its positions across the south of the country.

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