Yemen's Air Force carried several airstrikes targeting suspected Al-Qaeda positions and militants in Abyan province on Wednesday, weeks after the army drive militants out of this province, local security sources said.
"Four airstrikes were carried out on suspected places and hideouts to where Al-Qaeda members sought shelter after the offensive which killed hundreds of them including senior leaders in the past few months," the sources said.
"About twenty militants were killed and injured amid the ongoing hunt to clear 'every single militant of Al-Qaeda' from Abyan and nearby provinces," they continued.
In the past few months, the army with direct support from the US and tribal fighters launched an offensive driving Al-Qaeda militants out of their strongholds, seized last year, including the capital Zinjibar and killing hundreds.
On Tuesday, airstrikes targeted militants and their cars in nearby province of Shabwa, where the forces continued to pursue the militants, who fled Abyan, killing many of them and regaining control of their key stronghold of Azzan.
Separately, the defense ministry said three soldiers and five civilians including two children were killed in a explosion in the Amain district in the Lawder town of Abyan on Wednesday.
The explosive device was believed to be one of the remnants of the war between the army and Al-Qaeda.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in landmine explosions in the past few weeks when many displaced families started to return to their homes and villages.
The authorities, however, have warned the families not to rush coming back to Zinjibar until all landmines, which were planted by militants, are completely removed. More recently, the authorities sought help from the GCC countries to remove landmines to return the situation to normal in Abyan, saying the return of the displaced is a top priority.