ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Armed confrontations broke
out on Thursday morning between dozens of al-Qaida militants and Yemeni
government forces, leaving at least 11 troops injured in the war-torn southern
province of Abyan, a security official said.
The clashes erupted following a botched armed attack by the
al- Qaida members against an army patrol of the 119th Armored Brigade in the
northeastern suburbs of Zinjibar city, the provincial capital of Abyan, the
official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"A total of 11 troops were injured during the clashes
with the terrorists using medium and large caliber weapons," the official
said on condition of anonymity, adding that "the army soldiers were able
to confront al-Qaida members, forcing them to retreat from the region."
A local medic at the Basuhib military hospital in
neighboring Aden province, where injured soldiers were taken for treatment,
confirmed to Xinhua the toll, saying that "four of them were gravely
wounded."
Meanwhile, a close source to the al-Qaida fighters told
Xinhua anonymously that "one of our followers was killed and three others
were injured during the fiercest gun-battles with army forces this
morning."
Abyan, some 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, has been the
scene of daily fierce fighting after hundreds of militants from the Al-Qaida in
the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) captured Zinjibar and at least three other towns
in May 2011.
The ongoing
fighting showed the country's fragile security situation days ahead of the
presidential elections scheduled on Feb. 21 that would end the rule of outgoing
President Ali Abdullah Saleh who is currently in the United States for medical
treatment.
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