Gunmen of the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing Wednesday ambushed a security armored vehicle, killing at least five soldiers onboard in the country's southern province of Abyan, a provincial security official said, Xinhua reported.
"The militants firstly exploded a small roadside bomb which was planted in the way of the armored vehicle in Asulaimania area in Lodar city, and when the soldiers tried to evacuate, the al-Qaida militants fired rocket-propelled grenades on them, killing five soldiers and destroying the vehicle," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Abyan province has been the scene of a series of deadly attacks allegedly carried out by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) since early this year, leaving at least dozens of security personnel dead or injured.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, intensified security operations and air raids against the al-Qaida again after the group claimed responsibility for sending parcel bombs by cargo planes bound for the United States in late October.