Yemeni militants release 27 soldiers

A Yemeni hardline Islamic group belonging to al-Qaeda, announced Friday that it has released 27 soldiers who were arrested last month. It stated, that they were released after they had sworn to leave the 'army of the government supported by the US'. The Ansar al-Sharia group, said in a statement that it had arrested those soldiers in the province of Abyan, southern Yemen. The Yemeni forces continued their shelling on targets in Abyan for the fifth day in a row, in the framework of the campaign waged by the army against the Islamic extremists. No information was reported about any killings The Yemeni army is fighting groups belonging to al-Qaeda that have taken control over areas in central and southern Yemen, during the uprising which broke out last year against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who finally stepped down in February.