ADEN, Jan 7 (NNN-SABA) – At least seven soldiers of Yemen’s government forces were killed, in an explosion carried out by al-Qaeda militants in the country’s southern province of Abyan, yesterday, a military official said.
“Members of al-Qaeda terror group, targeted a gathering of Yemen’s government forces, with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion, in Mudiyah district,” the local military official said, on condition of anonymity.
The official confirmed that the IED explosion left at least seven soldiers killed and more than eight others critically wounded.
The source indicated that “the explosion occurred while the government soldiers were gathering, to receive food supplies near their military site.”
During the past months, military units of the Southern Transitional Council, which is part of Yemen’s government, announced they were launching “a qualitative anti-terror operation, and succeeded in raiding a key hideout of al-Qaeda in Abyan.”
Scores of al-Qaeda militants frequently use hit-and-run tactics against Yemeni government forces, while hiding out in rocky terrains and mountainous areas of Abyan and other neighbouring provinces.
The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula network, has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia, to expand its presence in the war-ravaged country. It has carried out many high-profile attacks against the security forces in the country’s southern provinces.
