At least one army soldier and seven al-Qaida militants were killed in overnight clashes between government forces and the terrorist group in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Sunday, a security official said, Xinhua reported.
The al-Qaida militants attacked an infantry barrack of the 111th Army Brigade in the outskirts of Lauder town, some 150 km northeast of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, killing one soldier, the local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"Deadly clashes broke out and left seven al-Qaida members killed, including three Somalian nationals," the official said, adding that "the armed confrontations are still going on outside Lauder, but the exact number of casualties remained unknown."
"The situation is critical in Lauder, which is being hit by mortar shells fired by al-Qaida insurgents from the nearby mountains," a local resident told Xinhua anonymously.
"The al-Qaida militants are trying to take control over the town again. Blasts and heavy shooting could be heard across the outskirts," he added.
Earlier in the day, at least four tribesmen were killed when a car bomb attack targeted a checkpoint of the tribal fighters who supported the army forces in fighting against al-Qaida militants in Lauder town, a government official told Xinhua.
An email statement from the al-Qaida militants claimed that a suicide bomber of its fighters launched the attack, killing a number of people.
"Our holly warriors are severely besieging the army soldiers of the puppet government in Lauder," the statement said.
Fighting between government troops and al-Qaida militants in the suburbs of Lauder continued Sunday for the sixth straight day, as the death toll in the fighting increases to over 200.
In recent months, militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch have carried out heavy assaults and deadly suicide bombings against the government troops across the country's lawless southern regions.
Hundreds of al-Qaida militants have built up main strongholds in the impenetrable mountains in Abyan and Shabwa provinces, seizing control over several regions in the south.