The Yemeni forces seized a number of al-Qaida positions as they advanced toward Zinjibar, the capital of southern Abyan province, which was held by militants in mid-2011, the Defense Ministry said late on Thursday.
The forces fought the militants and forced them out of their positions to take over them completely, it said.
The forces launched surprise attacks on the militants from all directions around Zinjibar killing at least 18 of them and injuring tens of others, it added. Two soldiers were killed and seven others injured in the battles, it said.
In Lawder, another front where the army and popular fighters have been fighting militants for almost two weeks, at least 14 militants were killed. In this city, hundreds of al-Qaida fighters have been killed and injured when the forces and popular committees repelled attacks to occupy it.
Separately, the Interior Ministry reported al-Qaida had planned to attack the Balhaf LNG plant with car bombs. In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said al-Qaida prepared six car bombs and six suicide bombers to attack the plant, which has been shut down for weeks. “In response to the militant plan, the security authorities were placed on high alert to thwart attacks,” it said.
On March 30, al-Qaida militants bombed the pipeline which carries natural gas from Block 18 in Marib to the Balhaf terminal. The terminal shutdown due to the attack was behind the cancellation of six LNG cargoes, Yemen LNG said.