"The campaign to control Houta has been completed and it has been
cleansed of al Qaeda and extremist elements," he said. Several people
were killed and injured on both sides and 48 militants were captured, he
added.
Gulf-backed Yemeni forces seize city from al Qaeda - source(Reuters)
Yemeni forces backed by Apache helicopters from a Saudi-led coalition wrested the city of Houta from al Qaeda fighters after a gun battle on Friday morning, a local military official said.
Their
recapture of Houta, the regional capital of Lahj province which has
been held by the militants since last summer, is one of the embattled
Yemeni government's most important inroads yet against al Qaeda forces
who have taken advantage of more than a year of war to seize territory.
Government
troops began their attack at daybreak and succeeded after several hours
of air strikes and heavy combat, the military official told Reuters.
"The campaign to control Houta has been completed and it has been cleansed of al Qaeda and extremist elements," he said. Several people were killed and injured on both sides and 48 militants were captured, he added.
Saudi
Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies entered Yemen's civil war on
March 26 last year in support of Yemen's internationally recognised
government after it had been pushed into exile by the Iran-allied Houthi
group.
Amid impoverished Yemen's security chaos,
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized the port city of Mukalla
and extended its area of control and influence about 600 km (370 miles)
along Yemen's southern coast toward the government seat at Aden.
A
Reuters investigation this month revealed that the group earns up to $2
million every day by taxing imports of basic goods and fuel.
Until
the attack on Houta, AQAP has suffered few territorial losses despite a
stepped-up American campaign of air strikes and drone attacks on its
bases.
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