ADEN: Al Qaeda militants killed some 20 Yemeni security force members in an assault in the southern Abyan province on Tuesday, a southern military spokesperson said, before all eight attackers were killed.
The militants used rocket-propelled grenades, light and medium weapons and military vehicles in the ambush on a security checkpoint in Ahwar district, Mohammed al-Naqib, spokesperson for Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, told media.
Yemen s main southern separatist group STC, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, last month expanded its presence throughout Abyan in what it described as a move to combat “terrorist organisations”, specifying al Qaeda.
Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has used the conflict between a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthis to enhance its influence. –Agencies
