Two Yemeni government forces officers were killed and nine soldiers were wounded yesterday Saturday in an attack in southern Yemen, where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is active, sources close to the security forces said.

They fell victim to an “explosive device possibly planted by al-Qaeda members” in Abyan province, a security officer told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In the last two years, this zone has often turned into a theater of conflicts between government forces and AKAH fighters, which is considered by the US to be the most dangerous arm of the jihadist network.

The device was detonated when it passed where a military vehicle was stationed, a second AFP source told the security forces, giving the same account.

The most recent fatal attack attributed to al-Qaeda took place in September, when four soldiers were killed and three others wounded in an attack in the neighboring province of Shabua.

The chaos caused by the civil war that has raged in Yemen since 2014 has been taken advantage of by jihadist groups, but their attacks have generally declined in recent years.

Relative calm has prevailed in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country since the UN negotiated an April 2022 ceasefire between the internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

The rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and most of northern Yemen, have made headlines in recent weeks for launching missile and drone attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea that they say are bound for Israel or bound for Israeli ports, in a show of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.