An explosive device detonated Monday in southern Yemen, killing six troops loyal to a separatist group supported by the United Arab Emirates, according to a military spokesperson, in the latest strike blamed on al-Qaida extremists in the impoverished Arab country.
The explosion struck a military vehicle as it drove through a mountainous area in the Modiyah district of southern Abyan province, according to Mohamed al-Naqib, spokesman for the Southern Armed Forces, the military branch of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council.
Eleven more servicemen were injured, he added.
The UAE-backed council has power over much of Yemen’s south. It opposes the internationally recognized government, despite their years-long alliance in Yemen’s fight against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold the north and the capital, Sanaa.
Al-Naqib attributed the incident on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
AQAP is regarded as one of the more deadly factions of the terror group, still active more than a decade after the assassination of founder Osama bin Laden.
It is active in numerous locations of Yemen, taking advantage of the country’s civil war to strengthen its presence in the country near the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen’s disastrous civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.