Yemen has denied that al-Qaeda recaptured al-Mahafad district of Abyan governorate, pointing out that air forces launched strikes on Saturday against al-Qaeda militants in al-Mahfad.
Security chief of Abyan Omar Abdullah said that reports about al-Qaeda control on Al-Mahafad were groundless, emphasizing that fighters of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) were still deployed in all their positions.
He said PRC fighters perform their tasks in collaboration of the Yemeni army, stressing that they are able to foil any attempts of al-Qaeda to return to Abyan.
In remarks to the military-run 26 September newspaper, Abdullah ruled out that al-Qaeda would be able to engage in battles again in Abyan, asserting that al-Qaeda militants became so exhausted and unable to return.
He expressed sorrow as some media outlets and journalists publish untrue reports, urging them to be accurate and avoid publishing false information.
Media outlets had reported that al-Qaeda militants recaptured al-Mahafad of Abyan and that numbers of militants are flowing to the east of al-Mahfad.They cited 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. Al-Qaeda militants received painful blows as the Yemeni army cleansed them from their main strongholds in Abyan and they resorted to use other tactics including the abduction of foreigners.A number of foreigners including a Saudi diplomat and a Swiss nationals are still held by Ansar al-Shariah, an al-Qaeda-linked group, in Abyan