Yemeni forces kill 16 al-Qaeda militants

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yemeni government forces pounded al-Qaeda targets on Monday, May 14 killing at least 16 militants in the troubled south where the army is trying to uproot the terror group, military officials said, according to AP.

In one attack, Yemeni warplanes struck an al-Qaeda hideout about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the southern city of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan. The bombardment killed at least 10 militants, the officials said.

The army also fired missiles at a moving vehicle on the outskirts of another southern town, Lawder, killing six militants inside it, they said. The town was controlled by al-Qaeda last year until its residents drove out the militants, who have since been trying to stage a comeback. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Monday's raids came a day after government bombings of al-Qaeda positions across the south killed at least 30 militants.

The attacks are part of the Yemeni military's broader campaign against al-Qaeda-linked fighters. The militants have seized towns and territory across southern Yemen over the past year, taking advantage of a security vacuum linked to the country's political turmoil that pushed longtime authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.