2 gov't soldiers killed in al-Qaeda roadside bombing in S. Yemen: security source

Two newly-recruited soldiers of Yemen's internationally-recognized government were killed by an al-Qaeda roadside bombing in the country's southern province of Abyan on Saturday, a security source told Xinhua.

"Gunmen of al-Qaeda used remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to attack government military vehicles as they were passing through Mudiyah's valley in Abyan Province," the local security official said on condition of anonymity.

The three roadside bombs also injured six soldiers, he added.

Seen as one of the most dangerous branches of al-Qaeda, the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been active in war-ravaged Yemen for years, taking advantage of the country's civil war and its power vacuum to attack military and government targets.

In an effort to tackle the growing terror threat, government forces backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have carried out several large-scale military operations on AQAP's hideouts in recent months, but are still unable to eliminate the group hidden in the mountainous areas of Yemen's southern provinces.

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthi rebels fighting against the internationally-recognized government and its allied Saudi-led coalition.

（Xinhua News Agency）