A Yemeni soldier checks a vehicle at a checkpoint amid fears of attacks by terrorist organizations, on Saturday, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

SANAA: Three suspected Al-Qaeda Yemeni militants were killed in an airstrike that targeted their house on Saturday in the country’s central province of Marib, a security official said.

The official did not specify if it was a US or Yemeni aircraft involved in the strike which hit the house in the Obeida Valley where the group has a strong presence.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

A website affiliated to Yemen’s Al-Qaeda branch also confirmed earlier reports that militants had killed 14 soldiers on Friday near the city of Shibam in the eastern Hadramawt province.

The website published pictures of the militants checking the IDs of the soldiers after ordering them out of a bus that was taking them to Sanaa for vacation from the city of Sayoun.

A statement issued by a media arm of Al-Qaeda Yemen’s offshoot said the militants took the soldiers to the main market in the ancient city of Shibam and told the people who gathered there that the soldiers will be killed because they took part in military campaigns against them.

Friday’s attack came after deadly clashes near Sayoun, where the Defense Ministry said army forces killed at least 25 Al-Qaeda militants over the past two days. The ministry said it has been sending reinforcements to the city after receiving information that Al-Qaeda is plotting the city’s takeover.

 
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