ADEN: Militants killed at least 10 Yemeni soldiers and seized an army checkpoint in the south of the country yesterday, a local official said, in an attack claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.
Local officials said heavy fighting broke out later between the terrorists militants and army reinforcements sent from the port city of Aden to retake the checkpoint, located on the road linking the southern provinces of Lahej and Abyan.
Yemeni war planes then bombarded the checkpoint, forcing some of the terrorists militants to retreat toward the city of Jaar, taking with them two tanks and other hardware.
The terrorist militant group Ansar Al-Shariah claimed responsibility for the attack. In a text message purporting to come from the terrorist group, it said it had killed 30 conscripts.
"The holy terrorist warriors of Ansar Al-Shariah this morning carried out the raid of dignity on the Al-Hurur military checkpoint in Abyan, resulting in the deaths of around 30," read the message, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified.
One witness said he saw the bodies of around 20 soldiers lying on the ground around the checkpoint.
Three terrorists militants were killed in an air strike on one of the tanks they had seized and four terrorists died in the clashes at the checkpoint, local and army officials said.
Residents said the army had begun distributing machine guns among them so they could help beat back the terrorists militants.
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