Ten militants suspected of having links with al-Qaeda were killed in an ambush in a volatile area in southern Yemen, dpa reproted
The ambush was set up late Tuesday by local fighters against "terrorist elements" in the southern province of Abyan, the September 26 newspaper said, citing local sources.
An unspecified number of other militants were injured in the attack, according to the report.
The Yemeni army, backed up by tribal fighters, has recently stepped up its attacks against suspected al-Qaeda hideouts in Abyan, where radical insurgents are believed to have a strong foothold.
President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who took office in February, has vowed to fight al-Qaeda, calling it a "religious and national duty" to do so.
Insurgents with suspected ties to al-Qaeda have widened their influence in Yemen, taking advantage of a weak central government and a year of political turmoil in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.