SANAA, Yemen, April 9 (UPI) -- A security official in Yemen said that 15 suspected al-Qaida fighters and seven soldiers were killed during fighting in southern Yemen.
Al-Qaida militants seized parts of the southern province of Abyan last year as the region was caught up in a secessionist movement. The independent Yemen Post said it was told by security forces that 15 suspected al-Qaida fighters and seven Yemeni troops were killed during fighting Monday in the region.
The report adds the fighting followed a barrage of drone strikes on the province, noting Yemen is fighting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula with "direct support" from the United States.
Interior officials last week warned that AQAP was planning attacks on Sanaa. During the weekend, Abdul-Alam Abu Nashtan, general secretary of the ruling General People's Congress, survived an assassination attempt in a district 20 miles north of the capital.
Gen. Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, half-brother of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, denied allegations that he ordered his forces to seize Sanaa airport.
Ahmar, who commanded the air force under his brother, has refused to give up the position and take up a new one as assistant to the defense minister, the Yemen Post reported.
Ahmar was one of the defense officials replaced by a decree announced Friday.
