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AL-QAEDA insurgents have advanced into a major city in south-eastern Yemen.
THE advancement comes as a Saudi-led coalition airdropped arms to fighters battling Houthi rebels in the southern city of Aden.
Al-Qaeda operatives overran a local army headquarters in Mukalla and seized a large cache of hardware, a day after the militants freed hundreds of inmates from the city's prison, a security official said on Friday. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the extremists killed an unspecified number of soldiers during the battle for the outpost.
"The soldiers resisted the al-Qaeda elements as much as they could, but they could not stop them from controlling the command headquarters," the official said. The jihadists on Thursday unleashed simultaneous attacks on state institutions in Mukalla, Yemen's third-largest city, and have since seized most of it. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, is one of the terrorist network's most active branches.
Yemen has in recent months descended into chaos amid a power struggle between the Houthis and internationally recognised President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi. Sunni Saudi Arabia and eight fellow Arab countries are engaged in an air campaign targeting the Shi'ite Houthis, widely understood to be backed by Shi'ite Iran. Saudi planes on Friday dropped weapons in Aden to local allies fighting the Houthis, who are seeking to capture the coastal city.
The aircraft carried out a "successful operation" to supply pro-Saudi fighters with weapons and sophisticated communications devices in several areas of the city, the Yemeni news site Aden al-Ghad reported. Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabia confirmed the airdrop, saying it was aimed at supporting "resistance" fighters there. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Sallam claimed that the rebels still control the presidential palace and airport in Aden despite the coalition air strikes.
The Houthis, who already control the capital, Sana'a, have intensified their attacks as they move to seize Aden, Hadi's stronghold. At least 519 people have been killed and nearly 1700 injured during the country's escalating conflict in the past two weeks, a UN official said.
THE advancement comes as a Saudi-led coalition airdropped arms to fighters battling Houthi rebels in the southern city of Aden.
Al-Qaeda operatives overran a local army headquarters in Mukalla and seized a large cache of hardware, a day after the militants freed hundreds of inmates from the city's prison, a security official said on Friday. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the extremists killed an unspecified number of soldiers during the battle for the outpost.
"The soldiers resisted the al-Qaeda elements as much as they could, but they could not stop them from controlling the command headquarters," the official said. The jihadists on Thursday unleashed simultaneous attacks on state institutions in Mukalla, Yemen's third-largest city, and have since seized most of it. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, is one of the terrorist network's most active branches.
Yemen has in recent months descended into chaos amid a power struggle between the Houthis and internationally recognised President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi. Sunni Saudi Arabia and eight fellow Arab countries are engaged in an air campaign targeting the Shi'ite Houthis, widely understood to be backed by Shi'ite Iran. Saudi planes on Friday dropped weapons in Aden to local allies fighting the Houthis, who are seeking to capture the coastal city.
The aircraft carried out a "successful operation" to supply pro-Saudi fighters with weapons and sophisticated communications devices in several areas of the city, the Yemeni news site Aden al-Ghad reported. Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabia confirmed the airdrop, saying it was aimed at supporting "resistance" fighters there. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Sallam claimed that the rebels still control the presidential palace and airport in Aden despite the coalition air strikes.
The Houthis, who already control the capital, Sana'a, have intensified their attacks as they move to seize Aden, Hadi's stronghold. At least 519 people have been killed and nearly 1700 injured during the country's escalating conflict in the past two weeks, a UN official said.
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