A group of gunmen believed to be members of al-Qaida freed a wanted man detained in the police jail in Yemeni southern province of Abyan late on Tuesday, local security source said on Wednesday.
The gunmen stormed a police station in Khanfar district of Abyan province and managed to liberate a wanted man detained there late Tuesday, according to the unnamed security source, Xinhua reported.
The source, who blamed the jail delivery to al-Qaida, refused to give further details.
The southern province of Abyan has been the scene of a series of deadly attacks allegedly carried out by the resurgent regional al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) since early this year.
On July 23, al-Qaida said it was behind twin raids on the general security and intelligence buildings in Abyan, which killed at least three soldiers.
Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida network leader Osama bin Laden, has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the al-Qaida wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger plane bound for Detroit last year.