Yemen's army recaptured the third al Qaeda stronghold in Abyan province on Friday in the latest major success for an offensive to drive extremist Islamist militants from towns they seized more than a year ago, Reuters quoted officials and residents as saying. At least 17 militants were killed during Friday's clashes, an official said, adding that fighters who occupied the southern town fled to a mountainous region west of Shaqra. The fleeing militants including Jalal al-Baleidi, also known as Abu Hamza al-Zinjibari, the leader of Ansar al Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) in Abyan. The group is an offshoot of al Qaeda.
