Eight south Yemen fighters killed in suspected Al-Qaeda attacks

At least four armed Yemeni separatists were killed Sunday evening in a suspected Al-Qaeda attack in the war-torn country's south, hours after another attack killed four other security members.

Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) are engaged in a campaign against Al-Qaeda elements who have established a foothold in the south of the country.

The latest attacks follow an operation by the UAE-backed Security Belt force in Abyan province, where separatist forces have been targeted.

"The attack occurred while soldiers were patrolling following up and pursuing terrorist elements in Wadi al-Rafd outside Wadi Omran in the Mudiyah district... where extremist elements are active," a military spokesman for the STC, Muhammad Al-Naqib, told Reuters.

"It is clear that the terrorist elements are being brought in by parties connected to the Houthi group, to try to restore their influence, at least with the explosive devices they are planting in more than one area in Abyan," Al-Naqib claimed.

Hours before that attack, four soldiers from the Shabwa Defence Forces, which are affiliated to the STC, were killed when an explosive device targeted an ambulance in Al-Musaina, west of the Shabwa governorate.

The STC and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have been involved in a series of violent clashes over the past year.

AQAP attacks have grown in frequency in the south and the group has repeatedly targeted STC-aligned forces. In August 2022, the Security Belt launched a military operation to drive out the extremist group.

Dozens of soldiers and militants have been killed and wounded.

The UAE-backed STC is a separatist group calling for the independence of southern Yemen, and a return to the situation before 1990, when North Yemen and South Yemen were unified.

Yemen's current war erupted when the internationally-recognised government was forced to flee to the south of the country after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa and most of northern Yemen in 2014.

The conflict has left Yemen in the midst of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving much of the country in ruins.