The war between the army troops assisted by tribal militias and al-Qaeda-linked militants heated up around Ja'ar, an al-Qaeda stronghold, and Zinjubar, the provincial capital of Abyan on Monday, leaving two soldiers killed, a security official told the local Mareb Press news website.The two towns have been under al-Qaeda control since last year when the militant group took advantage of the unrest that shook the country and held its grip on large swaths of land in the south.Sources reported citing a source at a local hospital that two soldiers were killed and 7 others wounded.Ansar al-Sharia, al-Qaeda branch in Yemen, said that it launched three attacks on army troops imposing siege on Ja'ar and Zinjubar towns.It claimed that its militants managed to kill some soldiers in the clashes and claimed some weapons.However, the army denied such reports, stressing that the troops are making progress in the battles. Eyewitnesses said that ongoing battles between the two sides have been raging since Monday early morning in Ja'ar and Zinjubar and that the government's aircrafts pounded the al-Qaeda-held posts. The Yemeni army stepped up the military operations in Abyan with the aim of regaining control over the towns and pushing the militants out of them. It has been delivering very painful strikes against the militants since early May.The terror network claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that targeted a group of soldiers rehearsing for the Unity Day military parade. More than 120 soldiers were killed in the attack.