Two soldiers were killed and seven other troops were wounded Tuesday in an ambush by unidentified people in Yemen's southern province of Shabwa.
The soldiers were on their way as reinforcement to those troops surrounding the house of Abdullah Al-Mehthar, an Al-Qaeda leader in Maifa'a district.
Al-Mehthar, 40, who authorities said was leading an Al-Qaeda cell, was killed when police raided his house and clashed with terrorists.
A funeral for him was held early today. Four suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested during the raid.
Local sources said police withdrew after he Al-Mehthar was killed, despite reports that security forces were still hunting those terrorists who fled to another mountainous area.
Officials earlier said Al-Qaeda fighters coming back from Afghanistan found a safe haven in mountainous areas in Shabwa where anti-terror troops launched a successful operation against suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts killing almost two dozens of terrorist suspects.
Before the operation, two other operations were carried out in Abyan and Sana'a in which about 34 terrorists were killed and other 29 suspects injured.
In recent weeks, Yemen intensified hunting Al-Qaeda operators in all cities amid fears by the west the country may become a safe haven for terror after Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yemen has assured it has not been and never will be so and that it can deal with all problems including rooting out Al-Qaeda extremists.
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