The defense ministry on Tuesday said the security authorities have arrested 14 Al-Qaeda suspects including 9 foreigners while planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Yemen.
The arrested, including four Egyptians, two Jordanians, a Somali, a Tunisian and two Caucasians, had planned to attack senior military and civil leaders as well as foreign interests in the country, it said.
"They were working under three terrorist cells and the largest was part of the militants who fought the army over the past few months in the south," it added. The ministry, however, did not give names or details about the arrest places and measures.
When the army launched a US-backed offensive against Al-Qaeda militants, who seized key towns and declared them as Islamic emirates in the south last year, international reports and observers argued the latest developments have already been in favor of militancy in Yemen.
The army said foreigners were among those who were killed, injured and arrested during the offensive.
The army drove Al-Qaeda militants out of their strongholds in Abyan and Shabwa and has killed hundreds including senior leaders.
With support from the US and tribal fighters, the national forces are pursuing militants who escaped from Abyan in nearby provinces, with many so far reported dead and arrested in the past few weeks.
Last month, the authorities arrested more than a dozen terrorist cells including the one behind the deadly suicide bombing attack targeting a military parade rehearsal in the capital Sanaa in May.