Roundup: Yemeni armed forces recapture al-Qaida stronghold

The Yemeni armed forces recaptured the al-Qaida's key stronghold in the southern province of Abyan on Tuesday, after heavy and focused shelling on the terrorists' hideouts, a military official told Xinhua.

"The army troops backed by the pro-government militiamen wrested back control over the mountainous Mahfad region in Abyan province, the al-Qaida's main stronghold in the southern part of the country," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

A government source in Abyan confirmed to Xinhua that the "the government forces have almost fully tightened its grip on the key main entrances and the surroundings of Mahfad region."

"Several armored vehicles and tanks are entering the town of Mahfad from all directions and the army advanced on all hubs of the region," the source added.

The terrorists' dead bodies were seen in the Mahfad's main entrances and in the areas that have been retaken by the government troops.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Defense Ministry's website reported that "al-Qaida militants blew up the local government headquarters and arms caches in Abyan's Mahfad before they fled the area."

The army managed to capture seven suicide belts, 10 explosives devices and nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition from the al-Qaida in Mahfad, the country's defense ministry said in a text message obtained by Xinhua earlier on Tuesday.

The Yemeni government has waged a wide-scale assault on al- Qaida strongholds in the country's southern territories since last week, killing scores of militants as the fierce battles are still going on.

Commanders of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen have vowed to hit back. The Yemen-based AQAP, known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It's considered the most strategic threat to the Yemeni government and neighboring oil- rich Saudi Arabia. Endi