By: Ahmed Al Haj, Associated Press
04/20/2012 (12:40pm)
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni government troops
launched a surprise attack in the south of the country to recapture an
al-Qaida stronghold, killing 25 Islamist militants, an official said
Friday.
The official said the army succeeded in regaining
control over one district on the outskirts of Zinjibar, but the rest of
the provincial capital was still in al-Qaida's hands.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
[Editor's note: Meanwhile, the Iraqi branch of Al Qaida claimed responsibility Friday for bombings that killed at least 30 people in the capital and across the country in the worst wave of violence in weeks]
A Yemen Defense Ministry statement on Friday said
the offensive that started two weeks ago around another city in the
southern Abyan province, Lawder, has so far killed 250 al-Qaida
militants. Also, 37 Yemeni soldiers have died, it said.
During a year of internal turmoil that eventually
led to longtime Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation,
al-Qaida took advantage of a security vacuum to overrun parts of the
south.
The U.S. believes al-Qaida's branch in Yemen is the
most dangerous arm of the terror group because of its repeated attempts
to carry out attacks in the U.S.
In recent weeks, the Yemeni military has been
hitting the militants in ground and air operations, while al-Qaida has
carried out some bloody surprise attacks of its own against government
forces.
Yemen's government expressed determination.
"The war on terrorism will expand and reach all the
terrorist elements; it will continue and will not stop until it curbs it
and uproots it," a statement Friday from the Ministry of Interior read.
Under a power transfer deal brokered by Arab Gulf
countries and backed by the United States, Saleh received immunity from
prosecution in return for stepping down. Protesters have been on the
streets ever since, rejecting the terms.
The new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has
pledged to purge Saleh's loyalists and family members from top security
and military posts, a step toward restructuring the army to enable it to
effectively combat al-Qaida militants in the south. Hadi's decisions
have met with stiff resistance from the Saleh's allies.
The battle in the south between Yemen's army and the
al-Qaida branch is seen as a test of Hadi's ability to combat the
Islamist militants.
The Yemen military offensive in the south appeared to be making gains.
On Friday, the Ministry of Defense said in a
statement, "the heroes of the Armed Forces have achieved a great
advancement toward Zinjibar," the capital of Abyan province, where
al-Qaida has been dominant.
Ansar al-Sharia, an al-Qaida-linked group, confirmed
in a statement Friday that its members have "encountered a massive
offensive by Sanaa regime forces, but they have failed" to retake
Zinjibar.
Elsewhere in Yemen, demonstrators repeated their long-standing demands against Saleh.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis rallied in the capital,
Sanaa, and several other cities demanding trial of Saleh and his family
for killing protesters during past year's uprising.
"The people want to prosecute the murderer," the protesters chanted, holding up composite pictures showing Saleh behind bars.
Saleh stepped down in February but remains in Yemen.
Some charge he is still meddling in state affairs through relatives and
cronies in senior positions.
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