ADEN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least five al-Qaida militants were killed and three others injured on Thursday when the Yemeni government troops shelled the terrorist group hideouts in the restive southern province of Abyan, local army officers said.
Several al-Qaida hideouts scattering on the northeastern outskirts of Zinjibar city, the provincial capital of Abyan province were pounded by a heavy artillery shelling of the army troops, leaving five militants killed and three others injured, the officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"Fierce clashes were still going on between troops of the 25th Mechanized Brigade and al-Qaida militants in the two villages of al-Khamila and Bagdar northeast of Zinjibar," he added.
Meanwhile, a tribal chief told Xinhua that a Yemeni cargo ship loaded with weapons and ammunition will arrive Thursday at the coast of Shakra to arm the tribal fighters engaged in the fighting with the army troops against the al-Qaida militants.
Abyan, some 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, is a key stronghold of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The government forces have been waging intensified battles and air strikes against the terrorist group after the latter seized two largest cities of Abyan, Jaar and Zinjibar late in May.
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