Ansar al-Shaira, al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen, revealed that it released five captured soldiers because they had showed repentance for being a part of the Yemeni army.
In a statement released on Wednesday, it mentioned that the five army personnel were taken prisoners yesterday in it's attack on a military outpost in the central province of Marib were set free.
In a separate incident, the militant group said it bombarded early today army posts with heavy weapons in the southern trouble-torn province of Abyan.
'The holy warriors' used their recently-seized heavy weapons in their battles with the 111 armored brigade, including tanks and heavy artillery, according to the statement.
The terror networknadmitted that five of their operatives have been killed in joint US –Yemeni airstrikes that targeted their whereabouts in Abyan.
Omar al-Hadad, the commander of the public committees and three others were killed in Abyan, when Ansar al-Sharia bombed their posts, added the statement.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants are laying a siege on Lawder town, Abyan, after they managed to storm and take control of three army outposts belonging to the 111 armored brigade in the area. The group is planning to storm the town in the coming hours, local sources said.
Yemen-based al-Qaeda wing has expanded its hold in the southern parts of the country, taking an advantage of the distracted, exhausted army.
It has taken control of some towns in Abyan including Zinjubar, the provincial capital, and Jaar, the second biggest town in the province.
US has voiced its gravest concerns of the unchallenged activities of al-Qaeda in south Yemen, and intensified its unmanned drones as a result.