Al-Qaeda recaptures area of Yemen’s SW Abyan province

By Shukri Hussein

ADEN, Yemen (AA) - Al-Qaeda militants on Thursday evening captured the eastern entrance of the Lauder Directorate in Yemen’s southwestern Abyan province, according to a local source.

"Al-Qaeda elements wrested control of the directorate’s eastern entrance following the withdrawal of army-affiliated forces late Wednesday and early Thursday," the source told Anadolu Agency, preferring anonymity for security reasons.

The same source said Al-Qaeda militants were now deployed near an electricity station near the eastern entrance of Lauder where they had set up a number of security checkpoints.

On Thursday, five Yemeni soldiers were reportedly killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb during the army’s withdrawal from the directorate.

Few details are available regarding the army’s withdrawal from Lauder this week, but troops deployed there had come under heavy fire from militants in recent days and weeks.

In August of last year, the Yemeni government announced the recapture of Abyan province from Al-Qaeda militants.

Since then, however, the militants have continued to carry out sporadic attacks on army facilities and personnel in the province, leaving dozens of soldiers dead.