AL-MUKALLA, Yemen: Five Yemeni soldiers were killed and four were wounded in clashes with Al-Qaeda militants in the southern province of Abyan, officials and local media said on Tuesday.
Using mortar shells and machine guns, Al-Qaeda militants attacked a location controlled by pro-independence southern Yemen forces in the long, rugged Omaran Valley in Abyan province on Tuesday morning, triggering clashes that left five soldiers dead, according to Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, a spokesman for pro-independence southern forces. “The terrorist elements retreated to their hiding places after failing to seize control of the area,” Al-Naqeeb said.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP, has intensified attacks on the Yemeni security forces that seek to eliminate their hideouts and military locations in rural and mountainous areas of Abyan and Shabwa.
More than 100 soldiers have been killed and almost 200 others injured by Al-Qaeda roadside bombs, IEDs, or attacks since August last year, when the Yemeni military launched an offensive against the terrorist group in Abyan and Shabwa.
Al-Naqeeb said that Al-Qaeda has employed attritional tactics by planting landmines and IEDs, and launching mortar and ground attacks to compel security forces to withdraw from their territory. “Al-Qaeda is desperate to drain our forces after they lost their strongholds,” he added.
On July 25, a roadside bomb planted by Al-Qaeda ripped through a vehicle transporting Yemeni soldiers in the Modea district of Abyan, killing three soldiers, including a battalion commander, and wounding others.
Meanwhile, fighting broke out on Monday between government forces and the Houthis in contested areas on the eastern edges of the besieged city of Taiz, Yemen’s army said.
The clashes occurred days after the Houthis launched attacks against government soldiers defending Taiz, the most recent attempt by the militia to seize control of new territory in the city.
