Marib (Yemen): Al Qaida militants killed at least 20 Yemeni soldiers on Saturday when they ambushed their convoy in the south of the war-torn country, a military source said.
“Armed members of Al Qaida ambushed a group of young soldiers travelling in three civilian vehicles in the province of Abyan, killing at least 20 of them,” said the source, who requested anonymity.
The terrorists ordered the soldiers to get out of the vehicles and shot them early in the morning in the town of Ahwar, the source said.
They took them to a remote area and killed them by firing squad, local officials and residents said. They said 17 other captive soldiers were wounded in the incident but were believed to be still alive. Their current status was unclear.
The soldiers had been visiting family in Aden and were on their way back to base in Al Mahra to receive their salaries, security sources said. They were not dressed in military uniform and were not riding in military vehicles.
The soldiers were young recruits who were being deployed as part of the internationally recognised government’s efforts to restore security to areas under its control.
Yemen has been at war since September 2014, when Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels and their allies drove the government out of Sana’a and much of the country’s north.
Al Houthis controlled Aden, the main city in southern Yemen, for months before government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition pushed them back in July.
Terrorists of Al Qaida and Daesh group have taken advantage of the chaos to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.
Forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against them in the past few weeks.
