At least four soldiers
have been killed in an attack by militants from an al-Qaeda-linked group
on an army outpost in southern Yemen, officials say.
Tribal sources said as many as 10 militants also died in the fighting, which lasted three hours.
Islamist militants began taking control of parts of Abyan last year.
Security forces have tried unsuccessfully to push them out and have suffered heavy losses. Last month, a series of suicide attacks and armed assaults by Ansar al-Sharia left more than 100 people dead, mostly soldiers.
The army outpost outside Lawdar, home to the 111th Armoured Brigade, came under fire from Ansar al-Sharia fighters at dawn on Monday.
Soldiers inside returned fire with small arms and artillery, and the fighting continued for about three hours, one Lawdar resident said.
"It is not the first attempt [by Ansar al-Sharia] to take control, but it's the biggest attack yet," Mohammed Nasser told the Reuters news agency.
Military and tribal sources said that in addition to the soldiers and militants killed, two tribesmen also died.
The attack came after air strikes reportedly killed 24 suspected al-Qaeda militants in southern and eastern Yemen over the weekend.
Ansar al-Sharia, or Partisans of Islamic law, was founded by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in response to the growing youth movement in Yemen, which has marginalised Salafi-jihadists who advocate the violent overthrow of the government.
In November, protesters forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, as part of a deal brokered by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).
Mr Hadi was elected president in February and immediately said one of his most important tasks was the "continuation of war against al-Qaeda as a religious and national duty".
Source: BBC News
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