Twelve militants linked to al-Qaeda were killed late Monday during fierce clashes with Yemeni forces in the southern Abyan province, Doha-based Al-Jazeera television reported.
The fighting in Lodar, 150 kilometers north-east of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, left seven government soldiers dead, the broadcaster said.
Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), an al-Qaeda-linked group that has seized several areas in southern Yemen since August, said in a statement that its fighters killed several government soldiers and wounded more than 30, DPA reported.
The clashes, during which government forces used planes to bombard militant positions, forced the fighters to retreat toward the area of Amiin, 12 kilometers south Lodar.
Militants affiliated to al-Qaeda have strengthened their foothold in Yemen, taking advantage of a year of political turmoil and a weak central government in the impoverished country on the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
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