Thirty suspected militants were killed as Yemeni aircraft pounded al Qaeda positions between the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa on Wednesday, a local official told AFP. The aircraft carried out several strikes, the mayor of Mahfed town on the outskirts of Abyan and Shabwa, Yaslam al-Anburi, told AFP by telephone.
"There were 30 deaths in al Qaeda ranks for sure." "Yemeni aircraft carried out a series of raids against concentrations of al Qaeda fighters, mainly in the Wadi Dhiman and Dayda valleys, killing 30 and wounding many others," he said. Earlier, a tribal chief said three suspected militants were killed and four wounded in an air raid targeting a group of al Qaeda fighters in a desert region between Abyan and Shabwa provinces.