Arab coalition claims 800 al-Qaeda fighters killed in Yemen

MARIB, Yemen – Agence France-Presse

Forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni president flash their arms at a road on the entrance to Abyan province as they take part in an operation to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of the southern provincial capital, on April 23, 2016 - AFP photo

Yemeni troops backed by Arab coalition air strikes killed more than 800 members of al-Qaeda in an attack on a southeastern provincial capital held by the group for the past year, the coalition said April 25.

Pro-government forces recaptured an oil terminal as well as the city of Mukalla, which was considered a jihadist stronghold, military sources said.  

“The operation resulted... in the death of more than 800 al-Qaeda members and some of their leaders, while some others fled,” Arab coalition commanders said in a statement published by SPA, the official Saudi news agency.  

The death toll could not be independently confirmed and no indication was given of civilian casualties.  

The operation was part of a wider offensive aimed at securing parts of the country captured by jihadist militants who have exploited a 13-month war between Gulf-backed loyalists and rebels supported by Iran.

It coincides with U.N.-brokered peace talks in Kuwait after a ceasefire entered into effect on April 11, but from which jihadists groups are excluded.

“We entered the city center [of Mukalla] and were met by no resistance from al-Qaeda militants who withdrew west” towards the vast desert in Hadramawt and Shabwa provinces, a military officer told AFP by phone from the city the jihadists seized last April.

The officer, who requested anonymity, said residents of Mukalla, home to an estimated 200,000 people, had appealed to the jihadists to spare the city the destruction of fighting and to withdraw.

Yemeni military sources said Emirati military vehicles were used in the operation and that troops from the Gulf country, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition, were among the forces that entered Mukalla.  

AFP could not immediately confirm these reports from officials in the United Arab Emirates.

The Arab coalition battling rebels in Yemen since March 2015 carried out air strikes against al-Qaeda positions in Mukalla to pave the way for the ground troops, military sources said.

Troops also recaptured Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Shehr further east, the sources said.

Earlier on April 24, military sources said pro-government forces seized the Riyan airport and an army brigade headquarters al-Qaeda had held for a year on Mukalla’s outskirts.