Five soldiers from the Yemeni government forces were critically injured in clashes with militants of the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda in the turbulent southern province of Abyan on Wednesday, a military official said.

"Scores of al-Qaeda militants tried to launch a large-scale attack on the government-controlled sites in the Al Mahfid district of Abyan Province, sparking intense armed confrontations," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

After hours of fighting, the government troops thwarted the attack of the al-Qaeda militants, who were forced to retreat to their mountainous hideouts, said the official, adding government soldiers inflicted heavy casualties on the militants.

After the battle, the Yemeni government deployed more troops in the region to reinforce its control and halt terrorist activities.

To tackle the growing threat posed by terrorists, government forces backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have carried out several large-scale military operations on al-Qaeda's hideouts in recent months, but are still unable to eliminate the group hidden in the mountainous areas of Yemen's southern provinces.

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthi rebels fighting against the internationally-recognized government and its allied Saudi-led coalition.