Fierce battles erupted at dawn in the outskirts of the insurgents-controlled town of Jaar in Abyan and continued until Sunday afternoon, the local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
About 10 anti-Qaida militiamen and 18 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing clashes, the official said.
The pro-government tribal fighters, with support of government forces, were forced to retreat on Sunday after they entered Jaar where saw the most deadly fighting in the past week, he added.
An army commander told Xinhua anonymously that intensified air strikes resumed after army troops met with sharp resistance from the al-Qaida militants in Jaar's suburbs.
"We reached to the town's suburbs but we cannot get into it. Al- Qaida have tough and well-trained fighters," the army commander said, adding that intensified air bombing will help us and secure our advances on the ground.
The Yemeni army and tribal militia have launched all-out attacks against strongholds of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Abyan since last week with the help of U.S. military experts.
Local officials said that dozens of U.S. counter-terrorism experts helped the Yemeni army set strategies against the AQAP.
Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who took office in February, pledged that large-scale attacks will continue to strike al-Qaida bastions "until we have eradicated their presence in every village."
Government troops fighting al-Qaida militants have gained ground in current battles and advanced towards al-Qaida strongholds, the Yemeni military said.
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