At least 23 Al-Qaida militants were killed in the ongoing battles as the army continued to advance to retake militant strongholds in south Yemen late on Monday, the September 26 website reported.
Most of the militants including a Somali and a Pakistani were killed in the battles in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, which has become one of the most important strongholds of Al-Qaida, the website said.
"15 of them were killed in the Shadad castle and the others in the Hassan stadium and the Marqid and Koud areas after their attacks on forces and attempts to infiltrate into military posts," it said.
The forces repelled the attacks and caused the militants big losses, it continued.
On Monday, the army imposed a curfew in several areas in Abyan, in a move which came after a suicide bombing killed four pro-army tribal fighters at a checkpoint in Lawder. The move was taken to face suicide bombings targeting civilians, the army said in a statement.
The curfew coincided with orders by the government to further step up the offensive against the militants to recapture the towns seized in mid-2011.
Hundreds of militants including senior leaders have been killed in the battles intensified with support from the US and local fighters in the past few months. Some areas have been recaptured but fierce battles are continuing to take control of the most important militant strongholds: Zinjibar and Jaar.