Sana’a: A group of religious scholars met Yemini President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Tuesday, urging him to stop confronting militants in the south, to reject any kind of foreign intervention in Yemen, referring to the United States’ increasing involvement, and to implement sharia, Islamic law, properly.

The clerics met with Hadi and suggested to make a truce between both sides, pointing out that Hadi expressed his determination to defeat the so-called Ansar Al-Sharia (Supporters of the Islamic Law) in Abyan.

The clerks also congratulated the president on the National Day and confirmed their support to the President as well as reviewing the implementation progress of the Gulf initiative and other issues concerning the country’s stability and the infrastructure’s security.

In the mean while Yemeni troops, who are engaged in fighting against militants in South, have captured rebel-held positions on the outskirts of the southern city of Jaar, a military official said on Tuesday, pushing ahead with a U.S.-backed offensive to remove Islamist militants from the country.

He said at least 10 militants had been killed in the fighting since Monday night and the Yemeni army was within 2-3 km (1-2 miles) of Jaar.

“Seizing this area will help us gain control of Jaar city,” he told Reuters. “Our goal is to advance into the city.”

Al Qaeda-linked militants seized large swathes of territory in southern Yemen last year as then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh grappled with protesters demanding his overthrow. Saleh quit last November in favour of his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Hadi Mansour.