AP/ May 13, 2012, 4:58 PM

30 al Qaeda militants killed in Yemeni fighting

An April 30, 2012 file photo of Yemeni army soldiers firing artillery at al Qaeda militants' positions, near the southern Yemeni town of Loder. / AFP/GettyImages

(AP) SANAA, Yemen - Government troops backed by warplanes and heavy artillery pounded al Qaeda positions in southern Yemen on Sunday, killing at least 30 militants, officials said.

The army launched its assault on the al-Hurur region of Abyan province at dawn Sunday, pushing out al Qaeda-linked fighters who have controlled the area since taking it over last year. Abdullah Ahmed, who lives in the area, said the militants fled by foot after government soldiers destroyed nearly a dozen tanks and vehicles mounted with rocket launchers seized by the militants last year and kept in al-Hurur.

The attack was part of the Yemeni military's broader campaign against al Qaeda-linked fighters. The militants have seized towns and territory across southern Yemen over the past year, taking advantage of a security vacuum linked to the country's political turmoil that pushed longtime authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.

Saleh's successor and former deputy, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took office in February in a U.S.-backed power transfer deal. He has since ramped up the fight against al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, which the U.S. says is one of the group's most active.

The White House's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, met with Hadi on Sunday in the capital, Sanaa. Hadi's office said in a statement that the Yemeni leader briefed Brennan on the army's progress against al Qaeda in the south.

Brennan, who also met with the head of Yemen's military, reiterated Washington's strong commitment to Hadi's efforts to stabilize the country, and said the Yemeni leader is making "historical decisions during these critical times in modern day Yemen," according to a statement released by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington.

Driving the militants out of the area of al-Hurur positions the army just outside the city of Jaar, where al Qaeda has held sway since March 2011. If the military can reclaim Jaar, it will have surrounded the provincial capital of Zinjibar, which also is currently under the control of al Qaeda.

The military has claimed control in recent weeks of some of the outlying areas of Zinjibar, but militants remain firmly entrenched in the heart of the city.

The army also battled militants Sunday around Zinjibar and in the town of al-Code in fighting that left at least 12 government troops dead, the officials said on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.