Suicide car bombing kills five tribal fighters in south Yemen

SANAA/ADEN, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a tribal checkpoint in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Monday, killing at least five tribal fighters, a local security official told Xinhua.

"Five tribesmen at a checkpoint on a main road outside Lauder town in Abyan were killed when an al-Qaida suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into them," the official said anonymously.

The bomber was also killed, while two other pro-government tribesmen were wounded, he added.

"All of the victims are tribal militiamen who were involved in fighting alongside the army forces against the al-Qaida group last month," he said.

A witness told Xinhua that "a car with one driver coming from the al-Qaida seized city of Shakra was exploded on the main road that links Lauder town."

The Yemeni government troops have waged an intensive military campaign, with the support of the United States and Yemen's oil- rich neighbor Saudi Arabia, against several bastions of the al- Qaida terrorist group in Abyan province since last month.

The offensive aimed at recapturing several southern towns and cities seized by the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula during last year's political chaos.

Posted in: Abyan, Abyan Governorate, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaida, alqaeda, AQAP, Lauder, Yemen