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15 Jun 2012
REUTERS
Yemeni soldiers killed 40 Islamist
militants and captured one of their outposts in heavy fighting in southern
Yemen on Thursday, local Defence Ministry officials said.
The Interior Ministry warned in a
statement it had put security forces on alert following warnings al
Qaeda-linked militants might try to launch attacks against civilian and
government targets following their defeat in southern Yemen, reports Reuters.
The Yemeni army is pushing ahead
with a U.S.-backed offensive against the last stronghold held by the al
Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) in Abyan province after
they were driven out from the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar on Tuesday.
A local Yemeni official said heavy
fighting had taken place during the capture of the outpost at Wadi Salam, some
20 kilometres (16 miles) west of Shaqra. An estimated 300 Islamist militants
were besieged by the army after the outpost fell.
The report could not be
independently verified.
Earlier on Thursday, a local
Yemeni official and residents said Islamist militants were seen fleeing from
the advancing Yemeni army.
Government troops and allied
tribal fighters were a few kilometres from Shaqra after retaking an area held
by the insurgents on the outskirts on Wednesday.
Many insurgents fled at dawn and
headed towards the town of Azzan after setting fire to two tanks and other
military equipment, Shaqra residents said.
The militants were forced out of
their strongholds of Zinjibar and Jaar on Tuesday in the army's most
significant victory against them in more than a year of turmoil that has taken
Yemen to the brink of civil war.
Thousands of soldiers backed by
tanks and war planes launched the offensive last month and were joined by local
tribesmen opposed to the militants.
The United States has provided
training and other support, including drone strikes, concerned its Islamist
foes have gained a new foothold in the Middle East.
Their advance has fuelled fears
about al Qaeda's presence in a country next to Saudi Arabia, the world's
biggest oil exporter, and close to shipping lanes.
In Sanaa, the Yemeni Interior Ministry
warned that Islamist militants could resort to attacks following its defeat in
southern Yemen and said it was beefing up security in the capital and other
cities against such attacks.
"Security forces have warned
that al Qaeda, in light of the humiliating defeat, could resort to terrorist
operations to take revenge for the great victory achieved by the armed forces
in destroying the dens of terror in Jaar and Zinjibar," it said in a
statement.
Ansar al-Sharia had earlier said
it would seek to spread the war across Yemen after it was forced to abandon the
towns, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors militant
websites.
