Scores of al-Qaida Fighters Removed From Southern Yemen in Pro-Gov’t Offensive: Military Source

Pro-government forces in Yemen on Tuesday expelled dozens of fighters affiliated with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) from the country’s southern Abyan province after days of clashes, a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told China’s official state news agency Xinhua. “Military units of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which are part of Yemen’s government, attacked al-Qaida hideouts and positions in various mountainous areas of turbulent Abyan, making headway on the ground,” the agency quoted the local military source as saying. The source confirmed that STC troops have forced the al-Qaida combatants to leave several strongholds in Abyan, and that the anti-terror campaign launched last month under the code name “Arrows of the East” was still underway. “After expelling al-Qaida militants from their bastions in Abyan, the STC troops backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition began preparations to storm more mountainous areas controlled by al-Qaida,” he said.