Qaeda-linked militants deep inside Zinjibar on Saturday, recapturing key positions inside the southern rebel-held city and killing at least 62 fighters, including Somalis, a military official said. The official said three government soldiers died and four were wounded in the fighting, part of an offensive that began earlier this month to uproot Islamist militants from southern Yemen. He said many of the dead militants were Somalis, but gave no precise figures. Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Al-Shariah have exploited last year's popular protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-years in office and captured large swathes of territory in the province of Abyan, including the provincial capital Zinjibar. The expansion of the militants' area of control has unsettled the United States and Saudi Arabia, both targets of failed attacks by Yemen's Al-Qaeda wing which earlier this week claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Sana'a Monday that killed more than 100 soldiers. Both countries have been pushing new Yemeni President Abdo Rabbu Hadi Mansour, who took over after Saleh stepped down in February, to unite the army and roll back the militants' gains. Meanwhile, at Jaar, a major Al-Qaeda stronghold in Abyan, four soldiers were killed in battles on the town's outskirts, a military official said. A source there said seven militants also died. Yemeni forces launched an offensive on May 12 to capture Al-Qaeda controlled areas in Abyan.
