The Yemeni army with help from the local tribes has cleared a number of areas in the southern province of Abyan of Al-Qaeda militants who controlled some Abyan cities and declared the province as an Islamic emirate in May.

A military source was quoted by Saba as saying that the forces carried out successful strikes against the terrorists killing and injuring tens of them and destroying their hideouts and farms west Abyan’s capital Zinjbar.

The forces also destroyed weapon stores of the militants, the source said, few days after the authorities said that hundreds of Al-Qaeda militants had been killed in the continuous battles in Abyan.

When the militants received devastating blows in the near past weeks, they stepped up their attacks against the military forces and their tribal supporters including suicide attacks killing and injuring some of them.

Meantime, local officials in nearby province of Lahj have expressed concerns that militants might take over of the capital Al-Hawta after many of them infiltrated into Lahj.

 Amid the continuous blows to the militants in Abyan, some of them could infiltrate into Lahj seeking shelter and definitely to regroup, the officials said, amid reports Al-Qaeda was trying to expand its operations to other southern and southeastern provinces.  

Lately, reports have surfaced that militants had infiltrated into Shabwa where Al-Qaeda was reported to have been training Somali fighters.