Originally published on October 19, 2013 <br /><br />At least five Yemeni soldiers have been killed in an attack by Al Qaeda linked militants in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan on Friday. A suicide attacker drove an explosives laden car to the gate of a Yemeni army base in the town of Ahwar. Other militants attacked soldiers in the base with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). At least 15 soldiers were wounded in the clashes. Local witnesses said a helicopter, apparently belonging to the Yemeni army, was circling in the vicinity.<br /><br />The Yemeni army has been increasingly targeted by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula linked militants who oppose the central government in Sanaa which they view as a US client. AQAP is regarded by the United States as one of the most active wings of the militant network, posing a serious threat to Western interests including oil tanker traffic in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.<br /><br />Last month, dozens of militants stormed and captured the headquarters of the Yemeni army's Second Division in the eastern coastal city of al-Mukalla and seized some military personnel. Military officials said four Yemeni soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a counter-strike to retake the base. Yemen's state news agency Saba reported on Thursday that a soldier was killed and two injured in militant attacks in al-Bayda province, south of the capital Sanaa. Saba said al Qaeda fighters suffered heavy losses and were forced to flee, but provided no details.<br /><br />Militants took advantage of political chaos in Yemen during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011 to seize control of some towns in the south of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.<br /><br />They were subsequently beaten back by Yemeni armed forces, with assistance from the United States, and dispersed into smaller groups spread across the arid, rugged south.<br />But they have since carried out a series of attacks on important military and civilian targets, killing hundreds of soldiers and some senior officers, including Major General Salem Qatan, the Yemeni army commander in south Yemen.
