Eight gov't troops killed, 10 injured in al-Qaida ambush in south Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Yemeni government troops were killed and 10 others injured Saturday when dozens of al-Qaida militants ambushed a military convoy in the restive southern province of Abyan, local army officers said.

The officers told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the military convoy came under attack while heading from the Dovis area to the al-Qaida-seized city of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan province.

The al-Qaida militants intercepted the armored vehicles firing heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The convoy was to reinforce the besieged 25th Mechanized Army Brigade in Zinjibar.

Also on Saturday, a source close to the al-Qaida militants said that members of the terrorist group shot down a military helicopter in the recent battles in Zinjibar city.

However, a local officer of Yemen's Military Intelligence Agency denied the claim, saying that "an officer on board the military helicopter was injured by gunfire but it landed safely without any damage."

Abyan, some 480 km south of the capital Sanaa, has almost been controlled by resurgent al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula since the militants seized the provincial capital of Zinjibar and another city, Jaar, late in May.