ADEN: Suspected Al-Qaeda militants attacked a military checkpoint in southeastern Yemen, killing at least nine soldiers from a local force backed by a member of the Arab coalition fighting in the country, an official said on Thursday.
The official said that five suspected militants also died during the gun attack late on Wednesday outside Al-Mukala, the Hadramout provincial capital, against a unit of the Hadrami Elite Forces.
The unit was set up and trained by the UAE, as part of a strategy to combat Al-Qaeda.
Hisham Al-Jaberi, a local military commander, said at least four other soldiers from the Hadrami Elite Forces were also wounded in the attack in an area called Wadi Hajjar.
Al-Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), had briefly seized control of Mukalla and several other towns and cities in the neigboring Shabwa, Abyan and Al-Bayda provinces. Local forces, backed by the UAE member of the Arab coalition, drove them out in a series of military operations over the past two years.
But militants still operate in remote areas in southeastern Yemen, including in Abyan, Shabwa and Al-Bayda.
The coalition, which includes the UAE, is fighting in Yemen against Iran-aligned Houthis.
Nine soldiers, five militants killed in attack on elite Yemeni force
Nine soldiers, five militants killed in attack on elite Yemeni force
US announces ‘large-scale’ strikes against Daesh in Syria
- CENTCOM said operation ordered by President Donald Trump
- Launched in response to the deadly Dec. 13 Daesh attack in Palmyra
WASHINGTON: US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Daesh group in Syria on Saturday in response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead, the US military said.
“The strikes today targeted Daesh throughout Syria” and were part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched “in direct response to the deadly Daesh attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria” on December 13, US Central Command said in a statement on X.
CENTCOM said the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump following the ambush and is aimed at “root(ing) out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent(ing) future attacks, and protect(ing) American and partner forces in the region.”
The statement continued: “If you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” adding that US and coalition forces remain “resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States.”
The statement did not note whether anyone was killed in the strikes. The Pentagon declined to comment on more details and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria, while Syria has been cooperating with a US-led coalition against Daesh, reaching an agreement late last year when President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visited the White House.
* With Agencies
