Several militia members of STC killed in bomb attacks in Abyan

ABYAN, Dec. 16 (YPA) –  At least four militia members of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed and three others were wounded on Friday in a roadside bomb attack that targeted their vehicles in Abyan, southern Yemen, local sources claimed.

According to local sources, al-Qaeda elements targeted “two vehicles belonging to the Fourth Brigade and another vehicle in the 103rd Brigade” affiliated with the STC in Wadi Omran, Mudiyah district. The Al Qaeda cell planted two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the road.

Sources indicated that the wounded were transferred to Lawdar and Aden hospitals. The same sources also accused pro-Islah elements of being behind the operation.

On Thursday, al-Qaeda elements blew up a bomb planted in a motorcycle while an STC military vehicle was passing through the Jablet al-Wazna al-Humayma area, east of Mudiyah. No causalities have been reported.

The string of IED attacks on the STC’s vehicles in Abyan increased after the UAE’s military operation “Arrows of the East” was launched against Islah militants at the end of last August.

E.M