Yemen: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attack kills secessionist commander and three fighters of Security Belt Forces
A suspected al-Qaeda attack in southern Yemen has killed a military commander and three soldiers from a secessionist group, security officials and a witness said.
Commander Abd al-Latif al-Sayyid and the three fighters from the Security Belt Forces, an armed group loyal to Yemen’s secessionist Southern Transitional Council, were killed in an explosion while travelling in a convoy through southern Abyan governorate, the three officials and the witness said.
The four said they believed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was responsible for the attack, but provided no further details. All spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
The separatist council is backed by the United Arab Emirates and controls much of Yemen’s south. Despite also fighting the Houthi rebels, it is at odds with the internationally recognised government, and has repeatedly called for the country to be split into two, as it was until 1990, when North and South Yemen united to form the Republic of Yemen.