Summary Al Qaeda fighters forced Yemeni forces out of a key town after clashes that left 15 people dead.
ADEN (AFP) - Al Qaeda fighters forced pro-government forces out of a strategic town in southern Yemen on Wednesday after clashes that left at least 15 people dead, officials said.
The jihadists briefly took control of Jaar in southern Abyan province, which a military source described as a key link between main southern city Aden and Mukalla, the Qaeda-held capital of southeastern Hadramawt province.
A government official in the town told AFP that the jihadists withdrew hours later after "carrying out an operation" to kill Ali al-Sayed, a commander of the pro-government "Popular Resistance" forces who have been fighting Iran-backed rebels.
Sayed and 10 of his forces were killed in the clashes, the official said.
Jaar is a stronghold of the so-called Popular Resistance, which has been battling the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies, includes Sunni Islamists, tribesmen, loyalist soldiers and southern separatists.
Four Al Qaeda fighters were killed in the clashes, the government official said.
"Jaar is now free from Al Qaeda and Popular Resistance committees," the source said, adding that the jihadists withdrew from the town towards provincial capital Zinjibar, where they already control government offices.
Seizing Jaar could secure the link between the jihadists Mukalla stronghold and Aden, which houses the internationally-recognised government s temporary headquarters, according to the military source.
It would allow the militants to send reinforcements from Mukalla to Aden via Jaar.
Iran-backed rebels have been battling pro-government forces in Yemen for months, and the loyalists in July launched operations to retake five southern provinces, including Abyan and Aden, from the insurgents.
But Islamist militants, including Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, appear to have gained ground in and around Aden, where jihadists are now visibly present.
As they entered Jaar, the jihadists blew up the main Popular Resistance headquarters and hunted down pro-government fighters, the majority of which fled the town, witnesses said.
Locals told AFP by telephone that a militant leader announced over loudspeaker from the town s Grand Mosque that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had full control of "the emirate of Jaar" and that residents were now "safe" and life could go on "normally".
But hours later, no Al Qaeda militants could be seen in Jaar, witnesses said, adding that eight armoured vehicles the fighters deployed during the clashes later withdrew to Zinjibar.
A resident who said he had spoken to the jihadists told AFP that AQAP has a list of names of pro-government forces that they plan to "liquidate" and that they planned to "leave Jaar to its own people".
AQAP, already active in the south and southeast, has exploited the unrest in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been pounding rebels since March.
The militants have imposed a strict version of Islamic law in Mukalla, which they seized in April.
Last month, radical Islamist gunmen entered a faculty at Aden university, forcing students to leave the campus, and locked down the faculty s main gate, according to witnesses.
They said the gunmen closed the faculty after they had threatened to use force against students if they did not observe segregation of the sexes on campus.
The rebels last year seized the capital Sanaa, and their expansion into central and southern areas forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia before later returning to Aden.
The United States considers AQAP to be the most dangerous affiliate of the Al Qaeda jihadist network.
It seized Zinjibar and other parts of Abyan in 2011, where members remained before being defeated by local army-backed militias a year later.
