Airstrikes hit Yemeni government building controlled by al-Qaeda

Two airstrikes on a government building controlled by al-Qaeda rocked the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar on Monday, local sources said.

Residents in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan governorate told The New Arab that the city's government compound held by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was partially destroyed and set alight due to the strikes.

It was unclear whether the strikes were carried out by US unmanned drones or Saudi-led coalition warplanes, both of which have previously targeted al-Qaeda positions in Yemen.

AQAP has taken advantage of Yemen's war between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition to expand in the south.

The militants have seized parts of Hadramawt including its provincial capital Mukalla in April last year.

In February, AQAP 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.

The Saudi-led coalition launched its intervention in Yemen a year ago against the Houthi rebels but it has recently turned its guns on jihadists in southern Yemen.