Gunmen kill 5 militants affiliated with Yemen separatist group

Five militants affiliated with Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed in an attack in the southern province of Abyan on Thursday.

Unidentified gunmen attacked a security post of the Security Belt forces in an eastern part of the province, which led to light clashes between the two sides, a security source told dpa.

The attack killed five STC fighters and injured three others, before the gunmen fled the scene.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Control of Abyan was divided between the STC, which was backed by the United Arab Emirates, and forces loyal to President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who was supported by Saudi Arabia.

The province lied next to Aden, the current temporary capital of Yemen.

Similar attacks have taken place in Abyan previously, targeting security forces and officials. Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for some of them.

The STC is part of a unity government that was formed last year as part of a power-sharing deal, in a bid to unite the STC and Hadi’s loyalists in the fight against the Houthis, who control the country’s northern areas.

The Houthi rebels took over Sana’a and other parts of the country in late 2014.

Saudi Arabia started a military coalition in March 2015 to stop the Iran-allied Houthis, who were advancing towards Aden.

Since then, Yemen has been roiled by the devastating power struggle between the government and the rebels. Extremist groups have taken advantage of the feud.