The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

SABA said the militants fled to the nearby coastal town of Shaqra, another Al Qaeda stronghold.

After troops swept into Jaar, residents looted warehouses filled with humanitarian supplies delivered by relief groups while others gathered in the town center to welcome the troops. They fired in the air in celebration, according to Waleed Mohammed, a resident contacted by telephone from Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.

Al Qaeda took control of large swaths of southern Yemen during last year's turmoil linked to the uprising against then-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in February as part of a U.S.-backed deal put forward by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies.