Clashes With Al-Qaida Leave 16 Dead in Yemen

On Tuesday, ten pro-government soldiers and six al-Qaida members were killed in an exchange of fire in southwestern Yemen's Abyan province.

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Intense clashes broke out in the coastal district of Ahwar after several well-armed al-Qaida gunmen attacked a security checkpoint held by the newly hired Security Belt forces, the local military source said on condition of anonymity.

A number of Security Belt soldiers were also injured. Hours after the attack, local security troops carried out a clearance operation to eliminate terrorists in the area.

The number of terrorist attacks on the southern security forces in Yemen began to rise after the newly-formed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) started to deploy forces in the oil-rich province of Shabwa and other neighboring areas.

The PLC is now dealing with a wide range of tough political and security challenges caused by terrorism, Houthi rebels and the recent rebellion by the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party.

Last month, the newly-recruited southern forces in Yemen launched a major anti-terror operation code-named "Arrows of the East" in the turbulent province of Abyan.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) network is responsible for many high-profile attacks on the security forces in the country's southern provinces.