5 Yemeni recruits killed in suspected al-Qaida ambush

ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Militants suspected of belonging to the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch on Thursday killed five security members during an ambush in the southeastern province of Shabwa, a police officer told Xinhua.

The local police source said an unknown number of al-Qaida suspects ambushed newly-recruited security members who were on patrol at the entrance of Ataq city, the provincial capital of Shabwa.

"During the ambush, five security members of the newly-trained troops were killed, and one injured. Their vehicle was burnt by the militants during the surprise attack," said the officer who declined to be named.

A military official said a contingent of security forces, backed by local tribes, are pursuing the al-Qaida attackers, while some tribal chiefs were asked to provide support and protection for the troops there.

"The al-Qaida hideouts and other terrorist locations will be targeted later today in retaliation for the ambush. A number of arrests have been made so far," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Several areas in the country's provinces controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have been the target of al-Qaida militants and other terrorists, who frequently kill security officers and government officials, using either grenades or drive-by shootings.

No one has claimed responsibility for the ambush, but Yemeni security officials accused gunmen linked to the Islamic State (IS) of being behind such attacks and ambushes in southeastern Yemen, where militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch and the IS are more active.

In recent weeks, Yemeni armed forces supported by the United Arab Emirates launched large offensives against some hideouts there.

The al-Qaida and IS-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and the ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in Yemen.

Security in Yemen has further deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around three million others.

In addition, the impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases reported every day. Enditem