Yemen forces kill 6 al-Qaeda militants

Yemen forces exchanged machine gun fire with al-Qaeda militants near Zinjubar town the provincial capital of Abyan southern province on Wednesday left two soldiers and six al-Qaeda militants dead, said security and local officials from Abyan province.

The clashes erupted after al-Qaeda militants launched an offensive against an army barrack of the 119th Armored brigade positioned in the east of Zinjubar town, said a local council source from Abyan. The source confirmed that most of the killed militants were foreigners including a Saudi and Syrian nationals.

The local source added that three al-Qaeda militants the call themselves as the Partisans of Sharia, group that took over most of Abyan province’s towns including Zinjubar in May, were also killed in the clashes late on Tuesday and at least five were wounded.

The local source said that the army also fired Katyusha rockets at the extremists’ hideouts in several areas across the outskirts of Zinjubar adding that heavy clashes are still going on between the two sides and three of the military's armored vehicles were set ablaze by the al-Qaeda militants.