Army enters Azzan al-Qaida stronghold in Shabwa

Units of the armed and security forces have entered an al-Qaida stronghold in Azzan town of Shabwa province, the Defense Ministry said onThursday.Security and stability gradually return to the areas that al-Qaeda militants havebeen cleared from, particularly in Jawl Rayd and Maifa'a in Shabwa and Mahfaddistrict in Abyan, a military official told the Ministry's website.Fighting continued to hunt down the terrorist elements in all directions, he said.Capturing Azzan was one of the main goals of the major offensive launched by thearmy military in the last ten days.Moreover, the Defense Ministry's website reported on Thursday the killing of twoal-Qaeda leaders in Shabwa.Abu Mosab al-Kuwaiti and Abu-Walid al-Humaiqani have been killed in Shabwa, thewebsite quoted a military source as saying.The source added that another al-Qaeda leader called "Abu Adel al-Keldi" has beenkilled by military and security forces, but this time in Baidha province.On Wednesday, an al-Qaeda militant failed last night to sneak into the soldiers'barracks at Saeed intersection area in Shabwa province. The troops deployed in thearea have arrested him before, official said.In the capital Sana'a, security forces captured five terrorists of al-Qaeda onWednesday, an Interior Ministry official source said.The source said that they were captured in the afternoon in various areas of thecapital, adding weapons, ammunition and equipment used in terrorist attacks werefound with them.The army launched major offensive ten days ago aimed to eradicate militants fromal-Qaida-held areas in Abyan and Shabwa provinces. Dozens of al-Qaeda militants,including leaders, have been killed or arrested. Many of them were foreigners,according to military officials.