Fighting engulfs volatile Yemeni town

Yemeni anti-government protesters shout slogans against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on June 12.NEW: State TV reports a deadly attack in Zinjibar and arrests in AdenFighting also occurs in the Lahj provincial capitalMilitants attack government compounds in HawtaYemen has been wracked by protests and fighting

(CNN) -- Fighting flared in Yemen's volatile southern region Thursday, as security forces battled armed Islamic militants in one town and reports surfaced of arrests and deaths in two other cities.

Fighting erupted for six hours in the Lahj province capital of Hawta Wednesday when armed Islamic militants attacked government compounds, according to a security official -- who asked not to be named because he's not authorized to speak to the media.

Three people died and at least 12 people were wounded in the Wednesday clashes, the official said. The fierce fighting between security personnel and insurgents resumed on Thursday, witnesses said.

Yemeni state TV also reported unrest in the southern towns of Zinjibar and Aden.

It said al Qaeda militants in Zinjibar killed two residents and injured another in a mortar attack, and it reported the arrests of 10 al Qaeda members and five other people for firing at civilians and ransacking stores in Aden's Mansoura area.

The security official and witnesses provided more detail to CNN about the fighting in Hawta.

Armed militants took over security offices and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank branch office and the compound of the judiciary on Wednesday, the official said.

Terrified eyewitnesses and residents said they were ordered by the militants to stay indoors, and shops were forced to shut down.

"The gunmen were in control quickly and government forces did not fight back in most cases," said Abdul Sattar Ali, a store owner in the province. "The gunmen occupied the buildings quickly."

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked with tension in recent months.

Anti-government demonstrations have engulfed the country, and protesters are demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave office. Saleh was wounded nearly two weeks ago when the presidential compound was attacked, and he is recovering at a hospital in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Government forces have been locked in conflict with al Qaeda's Yemen wing, and authorities fear that the group, called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is exploiting the country's political instability. AQAP has a strong presence in southern Yemen.

CNN