A roadside bomb killed four soldiers of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the country's southern province of Abyan, a local government official said. The bomb went off near a military vehicle in Al Mahfid district of Abyan, killing four new recruits and wounding three others aboard, the official added on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
Following the explosion, the STC troops, who are affiliated to the Yemeni government and backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, vowed to continue their anti-terror campaign aimed at securing Yemen's southern provinces, he said.
Last month, military units of the Aden-based STC announced that they had launched "a qualitative anti-terror operation and succeeded in raiding a key hideout of al-Qaida in Abyan". With support from the UAE, the STC troops have made important progress after expelling terrorist groups from several Yemeni provinces over the last few weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, in the past 24 hours, members of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch tried to impede the progress of the anti-terror troops on-ground through ambushes. Al-Qaida militants frequently use hit-and-run tactics against Yemeni government forces while hiding out in rocky terrains and mountainous areas of Abyan and other neighbouring provinces.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula network has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia to expand its presence in the war-ravaged Arab country.
It has carried out many high-profile attacks against the security forces in the country's southern provinces.