Al Qaeda fighters killed two Yemeni soldiers on Wednesday when they shelled their camp with two mortars in the southern town of Loader, which the militant group has been trying to take over, an army officer said.

Another soldier was wounded in the assault to which the army responded by shelling Qaeda hideouts on the outskirts of Loder, the officer added.

Loder residents said that the insurgents also shelled the town and burned down a mosque and a house.

“The (Al-Qaeda) network is trying to forcefully enter Loder,” a tribal source said.

Loder and Mudia are the only towns in Abyan province, which are still out of the control of the extremists who overran the provincial capital Zinjibar in May.

Fierce battles between the army and residents on one side and the extremists on the other for the control of both towns left more than 200 people dead early in April.

On Monday, Qaeda gunmen launched attacks on two army posts outside of Zinjibar, killing at least 22 soldiers.

The attacks came after Yemeni Al Qaeda leader Fahd Al Quso, who was wanted in connection with the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, was killed in an air strike in eastern Yemen on Sunday.