A senior local official in Shabwa province, Abdu Rabu Hashla, denied on Saturday media reports claiming that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took control of Ataq, the provincial capital of the southern province.
Earlier the day, media outlets reported that al-Qaeda operatives seized control of Ataq and that the terrorists encircled the town from three sides.
Hashla said that what has been reported by media outlets that Al-Qaeda stormed Ataq or has encircled is baseless and void of reality.
"Al-Qaeda took advantage of the situation and laid siege on the engineering team tasked with repairing the blown up pipeline today. It has stopped the team from fixing the pipeline," Hashla said.
Asked about rumors saying that security forces will hand over Ataq to al-Qaeda operatives, he said, "we, the army and security forces, and the citizens of Shabwa are on the same boat and that we would never let al-Qaeda take over our hometown of Ataq."
A couple of weeks ago, a main town in Shabwa fell into the hands of the terrorists after a brief fighting with the army.
Al-Qaeda has expended its hold in the southern Yemen, taking an advantage of the security situation and the prolonged political deadlock.