The Arab coalition backing Yemeni government troops said more than 800 Al Qaeda militants have been killed as they recaptured the port of Mukalla held by the group for the past year.
Pro-government forces recaptured an oil terminal as well as the provincial capital, which was retaken on Sunday, military sources said.
“The operation resulted ... in the death of more than 800 Al Qaeda members and some of their leaders, while some others fled,” Arab coalition commanders said in a statement published by Spa, the official Saudi news agency.
“We entered the city centre [of Mukalla] and were met by no resistance from Al Qaeda militants who withdrew west” towards the vast desert in Hadramawt and Shabwa provinces, a military officer told AFP by phone from the city the Al Qaeda seized last April.
The operation was part of a wider offensive aimed at securing parts of the country captured by extremist militants who have exploited a 13-month war between the internationally-recognised government backed by the coalition and rebels supported by Iran.
It coincides with UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait after a ceasefire entered into effect on April 11.
* Agence France-Presse
