Al-Qaeda militants kill 20 soldiers in Yemen

Dozens of army officers were killed in Yemen's Abyran province when their convoy was ambushed by al-Qaeda militants, as US airstrikes target government building in al-Qaeda held al-Houta city.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

09 April, 2016

Violence and instability has rocked Yemen since September 2014 [Anadolu]

At least 20 Yemeni soldiers were killed when al-Qaeda militants ambushed their convoy in the province of Abyan, southern Yemen.

The convoy was heading to the al-Mahra province in eastern Yemen before it was ambushed by al-Qaeda militants in the Ahwar area in Abyan, a local source told The New Arab.

The militants ordered the soldiers, who were mostly young officers, out of their vehicles before shooting at them and killing at least 20, the source added.

The soldiers were deployed by the government to restore security in areas under its control.

But the Ahwar area, like most other areas within the Abyan province, falls under the control of al-Qaeda militants.

The incident is one of the most deadly recent attacks in al-Qaeda-held areas.

Meanwhile, heavy shelling was reported on the al-Qaeda-held city of al-Houta in the Lahij province, north Aden, earlier on Saturday.

The airstrikes were believed to be from US unmanned drones targeting a government building held by the militants.

No reports of causalities emerged from the attack.

Violence and instability has rocked Yemen since September 2014 when Houthi rebels seized Sanaa, forcing the government to relocate in the southern coastal city, Aden.

More than 6,300 people have died - half of them civilians -since the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Yemen in March 2015 in a bid to overpower the Houthis and reinstate President Hadi's government.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State [IS] group militants seized the opportunity created by the chaos to strengthen their presence in southern Yemen.

In February, militants declared an "Islamic State" in Zinjibar following the establishment of "the Islamic State of Hadramawt" in 2014.

Residents of the newly declared "Islamic State of Zinjibar" confirmed the militants were mostly local tribesmen who had previously resisted Houthi advances in their region.

The al-Qaeda franchise, which has long been entrenched in Yemen, is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, and it has carried out deadly attacks on the West in the past.

Having overlooked them for a long time, forces loyal to Yemen's president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by Saudi-led coalition,commenced operations against the militants in the past few weeks.