Deadly clashes in Yemen between the army and Al-Qaeda

A bombing killed several civilians near the town of Zinjibar focus around which the fighting. Six civilians were killed Thursday in an air strike on a Yemeni southern city where the network is cut off Al-Qaeda, while eight fighters and two soldiers were killed in clashes, according to military sources and a local . A military source said six civilians - a man, three women and two children - were killed " by mistake "during a bombardment by aircraft of the coastal town of Chuqra, in the province of Abyan. A family member of victims, reached by telephone by AFP, confirmed this assessment, stating that aviation had targeted houses sheet. The Al-Qaeda fighters are holed up in Chuqra, encircled by the army since taking Tuesday by the army of neighboring cities of Zinjibar, capital of the province of Abyan, and Jaar. Two soldiers were killed and eleven wounded, and eight al Qaeda fighters were killed in fighting with automatic weapons before dawn in the city, according to a local official. The army had launched May 12 a massive offensive that allowed him to regain control of Zinjibar Jaar and held for nearly a year by the "Supporters of Sharia", which operates under the name Al-Qaeda in the south Yemen. Wednesday, nine people were killed in Zinjibar the explosion of mines left behind by Al-Qaeda, then they went home to inspect their homes, according to another local official. Since the beginning of the army offensive in the south against al-Qaeda, 540 people were killed, according to a report compiled by AFP from different sources: 402 members of Al Qaeda, 78 soldiers, 26 auxiliaries of the military and 34 civilians. Many residents of Zinjibar, who fled en masse after its takeover by the network in May 2011, returned after his release to find their homes destroyed. " Zinjibar is a ghost town and the streets are full of mines. We can not return to these conditions, especially as water supply and electric power was not restored , "said Salmi Bawazir to AFP, a resident of the city fled to Aden, returned to find his house destroyed. A Jaar, people have released twenty people, including imams of mosques, which were held in a house in the city by al-Qaeda fighters for standing up to the network, according to witnesses. Al-Qaeda had taken advantage of the weakening of central power in favor of the popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 to strengthen its grip on many parts of eastern and southern Yemen. President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has committed since his election in February to fight al-Qaeda.