Al-Qaeda terrorists storm Yemen border post with Saudi Arabia, killing 2

Suspected al-Qaeda terrorists have attacked a remote Yemeni border post with Saudi Arabia, killing at least two soldiers including a senior officer, sources in Yemen’s eastern province of Hadhramaut say.

A senior border guard officer, identified as Colonel Ahmed Washli, was killed in the attack at the border post near Manwakh, located about 440 kilometers (270 miles) northeast of the capital, Sana’a, on Tuesday.

Last week, the al-Qaeda terrorists attacked major government buildings and a prison in the provincial capital, Mukallah. More than 300 inmates, including a senior terrorist leader, were set free during the assault.

Fighters from various tribes have been battling to purge the terrorists from Mukallah, but reports say that almost half the city still remains under the control of the militants.

An ongoing military aggression by the neighboring Saudi Arabia has apparently boosted operations of Yemen’s al-Qaeda, known as AQAP, with attacks on civilians and government forces being intensified across the Arab country. The group took control of large parts in the impoverished country’s south and east after raging a massive militancy against the government in 2011-2012.

Yemeni sources have also confirmed that Saudi jets have supported the al-Qaeda terrorists by airdropping wooden crates of weapons and ammunition to places where they operate.

On April 3, Saudi warplanes airdropped wooden boxes containing various firearms and ammunition in the southern port city of Aden, according to a report by Arabic-language online newspaper, Aden al-Ghad.

There have been increased warnings that the Saudi-led aggression, which started on March 26 to undermine Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, could strengthen the grip of terror groups across Yemen.

Since they took control of Sana’a last September, the Ansarullah revolutionaries declared the fight against extremism and terrorism as one of their major objectives.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that over 540 people have been killed and some 1,700 others wounded by the violence in Yemen since March 19.