President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi has ordered ministers of defense and interior to send military and security reinforcements to Abyan, sources of presidency said on Thursday.
The sources made it clear that these reinforcements are designed to confront al-Qaeda that seeks to redeploy in some areas of Abyan.
The sources told al-Khaleej Newspaper that the Hadi's dirctions came after Ansar Al-Shariah, an al-Qaeda-linked group, tried on Wednesday to retake control on some areas that they were dislodged of in June.
Meanwhile, forces of the military backed by fighters of popular resistance committees launched a plan that aims to cleanse al-Mahfad district of Abyan from remnants of Al-Qaeda.
Local sources had said that large numbers of al-Qaeda militants were found out in al-Mahfad and that they try to reorganize themselves to fight the Yemeni army, pointing out that they are seen carrying various kinds of weapons.
Al Qaed militants attacked Batais a village in Abyan on Wednesday on in an attempt to regain control of territory which they were driven from in an army offensive last month.
Local sources said fighters of local committees that support the army managed to repel the militants on Wednesday, killing two of them.
The Yemeni army could cleanse al-Qaeda from its main strongholds as it launched an offensive that lasted more than a month.
On Tuesday, two militants were killed in the southeastern port city of Mukalla when an explosive device they were preparing to use against local security officials went off by accident, a local official said.