27 dead as Al-Qaeda launches attack on Yemen separatists

Twenty-one fighters and six members of al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch were killed Tuesday in an attack by the extremist group in the country’s south, government and security sources said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attacked positions held by the Security Belt group in Abyan governorate, in clashes that lasted about three hours, the sources told AFP.

The fighting “left 21 dead among the (Security Belt), including an officer, and six among the al-Qaeda combatants,” a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Yemen’s UN-brokered cease-fire has drastically reduced fighting since the truce began in April, but outbreaks of violence continue.

Last week, 10 Yemeni soldiers were killed in a Houthi attack near Taiz, the country’s third biggest city which has been blockaded by the rebels since 2015.

The assault, which also left several soldiers wounded, was aimed at cutting off a key route to the southwestern city of about two million, the government said.

On Thursday, the Houthis held a military parade in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, drawing a rebuke from the UN.