ADEN, Yemen, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Troops of the army forces killed 12 al-Qaida militants, including a leading member, on Tuesday, when the terrorist group carried out offensive attacks targeting the 25th Mechanized Brigade in Yemen's southern volatile province of Abyan, local army officers told Xinhua.
The officer said on condition of anonymity that two groups of al-Qaida militants waged heavy attacks at the observation sites around the besieged 25th Mechanized Brigade on the eastern outskirts of the al-Qaida-seized of Zinjibar city, the provincial capital of Abyan, leaving 12 militants killed.
"The terrorist elements were trying to storm the eastern site around the 25th Mechanized Brigade," he said, adding that "The army troops scattered around the brigade repulsed the al-Qaida's attacks."
Another officer of the 25th Mechanized Brigade told Xinhua that a leading member of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was among the dead militants.
"Ali Saeed Jamil, one of the most dangerous al-Qaida members was killed in Zinjibar city," he said, adding that "Jamil has been hunted by the Yemeni security forces in the Marib province".
Abyan, some 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, is a key stronghold of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Yemeni government has intensified battles against the terrorist group and using warplanes to try to destroy al-Qaida's main hideouts in southern provinces since the group overran Abyan's provincial capital city of Zinjibar late in May.
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