FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 file photo,Yemen's Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi gestures as he enters a polling center to cast his vote in Sanaa, Yemen. Yemeni troops and armed tribesmen drove al-Qaida militants from two southern strongholds on Tuesday, a major victory in a U.S.-backed offensive to seize territory held for more than a year by the terror network as it exploited political turmoil to gain a foothold in the strategic area. The victories capped weeks of fighting as Yemen's new President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has pledged to uproot al-Qaida from the south with help from the United States as part of a new cooperation following Saleh's ouster. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
June 12, 2012 - 4:33 AM
SANAA, Yemen - Yemen's state-run news agency says the military in a surprise dawn attack has regained control of one of al-Qaida's key strongholds in the south, which the militant group has held for more than a year.
Quoting local officials, SABA says army troops swept into the town of Jaar early Tuesday sparking fierce clashes and forcing militants to flee toward another al-Qaida stronghold, the southern coastal town of Shaqra.
Al-Qaida took control of large swaths of southern Yemen during last year's turmoil linked to the uprising against then-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Waleed Mohammed, a resident contacted by telephone, says people in the town gathered in Jaar's centre to celebrate, firing gunshots in the air.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012