A day after al-Qaeda militants targeted the military in Aden, officials in the south-eastern province of Hadhramawt confirmed that terror militants had attacked yet another military outpost near al-Qatn.
Already dubbed the most dangerous terror cells in the entire Arabian Peninsula region, Al-Qaeda Yemen has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt to have at its disposal enough military fire-power, and manpower to challenge Yemen armed forces. More troubling yet, the group has displayed great tactical ground skills, something which has unsettled many high ranking officers as they woke up to the sheer magnitude of the threat which al-Qaeda poses.
Well trained and well-armed, al-Qaeda Yemen has become the state’s enemy number one, probably the biggest threat the impoverished nation has witnessed in decades.
Having seemingly moved on from targeted assassinations in favour of more direct attacks against the military and security forces, terror militants have left in their wake a trail of destruction since December 2013. Looking back, December’s attack against Yemen’s defence Ministry marked a drastic change in tactics, with the terror militants feeling confident enough in their abilities to challenge the state on its own turf.
On Friday a reported eight soldiers were killed by Islamists while 11 were severely wounded.
“The attackers approached the position on board several vehicles and opened fire on the soldiers with different types of weapons, killing eight and wounding 11 more,” AFP quoted a source as saying.