Local sources said that 10 armed men were killed in an air strike in the southern Yemeni Abyan province, while others were killed in clashes with troops. Residents and a local official were quoted as saying aircraft bombed insurgents in the town of Jaar, killing ten gunmen believed to be associated with al Qaeda.
The sources added that three other militants and a soldier were killed in clashes in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan.
Army forces have been trying to regain control of the city after insurgents, who call themselves "Supporters of Sharia" took control. But AFP quoted a military source as saying that four soldiers were killed in Zinjibar, two of them in a mine explosion during the progress of their unit inside the city while two others were killed by snipers.
Meanwhile, shells fired into a popular shopping district of Yemen's capital killed two civilians and injured another on Tuesday, witnesses and medical officials said.The two shells slammed into Hayel Road late in the morning, the witnesses said.
