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SANAA, Yemen – Government troops killed 11 al-Qaida fighters in southern Yemen onFriday, as the army battled its way into the outskirts of a keytown under the militants' control, military officials said. Al-Qaida-linked fighters have taken over a swath of territory andseveral towns in the south over the past year, pushing outgovernment forces and establishing their own rule. In recent weeks,the army has launched a concerted effort to uproot the militantsfrom their strongholds — and is closely coordinating with asmall contingent of U.S. troops who are helping guide theoperations from inside Yemen. On Friday, Yemeni troops moved in on Jaar in Abyan province,killing eight al-Qaida fighters in clashes about 10 kilometers (sixmiles) north of the town. Recapturing Jaar would better positionthe military to take back Zinjibar, the provincial capital that hasbeen under al-Qaida control for more than a year. Also in Abyan, a Yemeni warplane struck an al-Qaida checkpoint some70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Zinjibar in an area known asShoqra, killing three militants and wounding six, officials said. The fighting in the south, particularly around Jaar, has displacedtens of thousands of civilians. Town residents said that hundreds of families from the surroundingarea flooded into the city on Friday to escape the clashes. One civilian who fled to Jaar, Al-Muqbala Yasin, said by telephonethat the military had bombed his hometown just outside of Jaar. Hesaid that he saw al-Qaida militants burying their dead in what hecalled "mass graves" there. Yemen's new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who has vowed totackle the threat from al-Qaida in the country. As part of the fight, Hadi is restructuring the military andremoving loyalists of ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh from keyposts, though there are concerns that the former leader, whostepped down in February, is still obstructing reforms and tryingto retain influence through his cronies. On Friday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets inmore than 18 provinces, calling on Saleh loyalists to step asideand allow security officials appointed by Hadi to take up theirposts. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Letter Bending Machine Manufacturer , Cutting Vinyl Plotter for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Water Based Inkjet Printer.
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