Yemeni officials and witnesses say government troops have retaken control of a key al-Qaida stronghold in the country's south after a battle that killed at least 20 militants and four soldiers.

Officials and residents of Jaar said Yemeni troops and their tribal allies bombarded the southern town Tuesday morning, forcing al-Qaida militants to flee the area they had occupied for more than a year. The soldiers and tribesmen later drove into Jaar and re-opened a major highway linking Abyan province with the southern port of Aden. Residents celebrated the return of government troops by firing weapons into the air.

Witnesses said al-Qaida left behind flyers apologizing to residents for subjecting the town to a year-long conflict. They said the militants fled eastward to the nearby town of Shuqra.

The militants seized several Abyan towns, including Jaar, Zinjibar and Shuqra last year while the government was pre-occupied with a pro-democracy uprising against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh. His successor Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi launched a U.S.-backed military offensive last month to recapture those areas.