SANAA: Yemeni government troops launched a surprise attack in the south of the country to recapture an Al-Qaeda stronghold, killing 25 militants, an official said yesterday.The official said the army succeeded in regaining control over one district on the outskirts of Zinjibar, but the rest of the provincial capital was still in Al-QaedaÂ’s hands.
A Defense Ministry statement yesterday said the offensive that started two weeks ago around another city in the southern Abyan province, Lawder, has so far killed 250 Al-Qaeda militants. Also, 37 Yemeni soldiers have died, it said.
In recent weeks, the Yemeni military has been hitting the militants in ground and air operations, while Al-Qaeda has carried out some bloody surprise attacks of its own against government forces.
YemenÂ’s government expressed determination.
“The war on terrorism will expand and reach all the terrorist elements; it will continue and will not stop until it curbs it and uproots it,” a statement yesterday from the Ministry of Interior read.