The town of Jaar in Abyan province was pounded by air strikes which killed 13 extremists and the 12 civilians, while battles raged in Loder, another Abyan town the jihadists have been wrestling to control, leaving another 12 al-Qaeda fighters dead, according to witnesses and tribal leaders.
Eight militiamen fighting against al-Qaeda as well as eight soldiers also died in Loder, militia and military officials said.
Troops on Saturday launched a multi-pronged assault aimed at recapturing Qaeda-held towns and cities across Abyan, including the regional capital Zinjibar.
Today, the military called in air strikes against targets in Jaar, five days after dropping leaflets warning civilians to stay clear of Al-Qaeda hideouts.
A first strike killed two al-Qaeda suspects while the 12 civilians, part of a group who had gathered around the residence right after the attack, died in a second raid soon after, witnesses said.
"Eight bodies were pulled out of the rubble," one witness said.
Another four among 25 civilians hurt in the second attack died later, said residents.
A later attack by the air force killed another 11 jihadists, a local source and residents said.
"The army has advanced in the area surrounding Jaar and arrested around 25 members of Ansar al-Sharia (Islamic law) on their motorbikes," said a military official.
Members of al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen have renamed themselves Partisans of Sharia.
Meanwhile, 12 other militants were killed in battles that raged northeast in Loder, tribes said.
Loder is the only Abyan town besides Mudia still not under the control of the extremists, who overran Zinjibar in May last year.
A military official said two soldiers were killed in fighting around Loder while "an Al-Qaeda sniper" shot dead an officer from the 111th Brigade, Colonel Qasim Dabwan.
Another military official said five other soldiers had been killed there.
Ali Ahmed, spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees, formed by residents of Loder and nearby Mudia to battle jihadists alongside the army, said five of its members were killed while nearly a dozen were wounded.
Three of them died later, another member of the committees said.(ST-15/05)
