Yemeni army in major ground offensive against al Qaeda

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Yemeni troops, backed by air force planes, launched a major offensive against al Qaeda strongholds in the south of the country on Tuesday to try to eradicate the Islamist militant group that had killed hundreds since 2011.

A local official said at least five Yemeni government soldiers were killed in the fighting, in which hundreds of volunteers from a local militia known as the Popular Committees are taking part.

The operation came less than two weeks after Yemen said some 55 suspected militants died in a series of air strikes on the militants' main hideouts in southern Yemen.

"Heroes of the armed and security forces, in cooperation with the Popular Committees, are determined to destroy the remnants of the terrorist elements in al-Mahfad area," Abyan governor Jamal al-Aqel was quoted on the Defence Ministry website as saying.

Militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its allies in the local Ansar al-Sharia group fled to the mountainous area in 2012 after Yemen's army, backed by the United States, drove them out of cities they had seized in 2011.

The insurgents have posed a major challenge to government efforts to restore stability to the U.S.-allied country since long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down in 2012 after months of pro-democracy protests.

The militants have carried out dozens of bombings, suicide attacks and commando-style raids against military installations, government facilities and foreign nationals, killing hundreds of people since 2012.

Local residents said on Monday the army had been massing troops near the town of al-Mahfad in preparation for a major offensive.

Local news websites have reported that several soldiers were captured by militants in the early stages of the fighting and photos were posted online of men in uniform sitting in the back of a truck, between masked men holding an al Qaeda banner.

It was not immediately possible to verify the reports.

REUTERS