( CNN ) -- At least 11 `` al Qaeda terrorists '' were killed by security forces in Yemen on Friday , two Yemeni Defense Ministry officials told CNN . The officials said the action occurred in Abyan and Shabwa provinces . Also Friday , three militants and four Yemeni security troops were killed in a gunfight in the country 's capital , Sanaa , two Yemeni Interior Ministry officials said . Information about what group the militants belonged to was n't immediately available . This comes nearly three weeks after Yemen 's government launched a military offensive against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . An al Qaeda explosives expert from the Russian republic of Dagestan , Tamoor al-Daghestani , was among those who were killed by security forces in the province of Shabwa , a military source said , according to the ministry 's official newspaper , 26 September Net . Yemen 's crackdown killed more than 60 suspected al Qaeda militants in the country from April 19 to April 21 , Yemeni officials have said . Twelve more were killed on May 1 , according to a high-level Yemeni government official . Operations last month included attacks by Yemeni commandos and suspected U.S. drone strikes , according to a Yemeni official .
Fighting in Abyan and Shabwa provinces comes amid crackdown on al Qaeda . The United States has been carrying out airstrikes against the militants since last year to try to stop them from taking over large parts of northern Yemen. Three militants , four Yemeni security troops die in a gunfight in Sanaa , Yemeni officials say .