Armed southern separatists kidnapped four soldiers in Yemen's southern province of Lahj Saturday, a provincial official told Xinhua.
"The kidnap took place in Radfan city of Lahj early Saturday and we don't know the motivation behind the kidnap or the abductor 's demands," the official said without elaborating further.
Northern and southern parts of Yemen unified in 1990 under a deal between the People's General Congress and the Yemeni Socialist Party. However, the deal fell apart which led to a crisis between the two allies and turned into a civil war in 1994.
Sanaa has come under mounting pressure from Washington and the international community which asked the Yemeni government to solve its internal conflicts and focus on fighting Yemen-based resurgent al-Qaida regional wing.