Yemen says military kills 21 al-Qaeda members

Yemen's defence ministry said the military had killed 21 al-Qaeda "terrorists" on Saturday in the southern Abyan province, whose capital, Zinjibar was seized by Islamist militants last month.

In a statement sent by text message, the ministry said Yemeni forces killed 18 al-Qaeda members in Zinjibar, and three in another city in the province, Lawdar. Army troops also destroyed a weapons and ammunition cache in Zinjibar, it said.