ADEN, Yemen, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Violent clashes erupted between the Yemeni government troops and al-Qaida militants on Sunday, killing at least three soldiers and eight al-Qaida militants in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, local officials and medics told Xinhua.
Al-Qaida militants carried out offensive attacks targeting the 25th Mechanized Brigade in the east of Zinjibar city, which aroused heavy clashes, leaving three soldiers and eight al-Qaida militants killed in addition to injuring dozens of others from both sides, the official told Xinhua, who asked to remain anonymous.
Fierce battles are still ongoing around the military brigade, which was surrounded by the militants, the official said.
Al-Qaida group was trying to bring down the military brigade by using heavy machine guns, he added.
Meanwhile, a local medic at the Basuhib military hospital in Aden said that dozens of injured soldiers were receiving treatment from the clashes.
Earlier the day, warplanes of the army forces carried out air strikes against al-Qaida hideouts and bombed the intelligence headquarters in Abyan, which was controlled by al-Qaida.
Government forces have carried out intensified air strikes against al-Qaida hideouts during the past two weeks after the latter seized two largest Abyan's cities of Jaar and Zinjibar, about 480 km south of the capital Sanaa.
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