Aden: Three suspected Al Qaida militants were killed in a clash Wednesday with Yemeni forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in southern Yemen, local government sources said.

The terrorists were travelling towards the city of Aden, the government’s temporary base, when government forces manning a checkpoint in neighbouring Abyan province stopped them, sparking a gunfight, the sources said.

The three suspects were coming from the southeastern city of Al Mukalla, which Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has controlled since April.

Yemen, home to what the United States considers Al Qaida’s most dangerous affiliate, has been convulsed by unrest since Iran-backed Al Houthi militants seized Sana’a in September 2014.

AQAP has exploited the turmoil to tighten its grip on parts of southeast Yemen, including Al Mukalla, imposing a strict form of Islamic law.

Islamist militants, including AQAP and Daesh, have gained ground in and around Aden.

Al Qaida fighters have also seized the town of Azzan in Shabwa province east of Abyan, local officials and tribal chiefs said on Monday.

The authorities have struggled to exert control over several southern regions that loyalists have recaptured from Al Houthis and their allies since July.

There has been a string of bombings and assassinations, many claimed by Daesh, targeting security forces and government officials.

On Friday night, a suicide bombing killed seven people and wounded seven others in Aden. The bombing targeted a police checkpoint not far from a suicide attack the previous day that killed eight people, including soldiers and civilians, outside the presidential palace in the city, the sources said.

Daesh said it was responsible for Thursday’s bombing.

Al Qaida and arch rival Daesh both have a presence in Aden, where the terrorists occupy government buildings and are seen patrolling several districts and intimidating civilians.

President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi was in the palace at the time of Thursday’s attack but unharmed, a government official said.

Aden has become the temporary headquarters of Hadi’s government as it battles to retake large parts of Yemen from Al Houthi militants. Hadi fled to Aden after escaping house arrest in Sana’a, which was overrun by the Al Houthis in September 2014. Yemeni forces backed by Saudi-led air strikes have since recaptured Aden but are still battling to retake other provinces and push toward the Al Houthi-held capital.