Yemen Army Enters Third City after Qaida Pullout
Yemeni troops took control of the city of Shuqra on Friday after al-Qaida militants pulled out, the third jihadist bastion in the south to fall in the space of a week, a military official said.
"The army has taken control of Shuqra," said a military official, adding that "troops have taken positions in the center" of the coastal city while militants were seen fleeing.
A local official told Agence France Presse that al-Qaida fighters "pulled out towards Azzan," some 110 kilometers to the northeast.
The official said that militants fled after the army "tightened the noose from three fronts."
Shuqra was the last major stronghold of al-Qaida in Abyan province to fall to government forces, which launched an all-out offensive last month that had already resulted in the recapture of the towns of Jaar and Zinjibar.
The militants remain in control of the smaller Abyan town of al-Mahfad.
Source: Agence France Presse
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