Agencies, Aden :
Al Qaeda militants on Thursday seized a provincial airport in southeast Yemen while tribal forces took over an oil terminal, as the war-wracked country slid further into turmoil.
“The military unit in charge of security at the facility withdrew without resisting” Al Qaeda fighters, said an official at the airport in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt province.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the militant network’s powerful Yemeni branch, earlier this month took advantage of the growing chaos to overrun Mukalla.
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Military sources said AQAP now controls the whole of the city of more than 200,000 inhabitants, except for a camp of soldiers loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
Elsewhere in Hadramawt province, tribal forces took control of a major oil terminal after soldiers protecting the site withdrew, a military source said.
The terminal, in the city of Al-Shihr, “fell under the complete control of tribal fighters after the military unit guarding it withdrew in the afternoon without resistance,” the source said.
Various armed groups have taken over parts of the deeply tribal country, where Houthi rebels are battling pro-Hadi forces.
Al Qaeda militants on Thursday seized a provincial airport in southeast Yemen while tribal forces took over an oil terminal, as the war-wracked country slid further into turmoil.
“The military unit in charge of security at the facility withdrew without resisting” Al Qaeda fighters, said an official at the airport in Mukalla, capital of Hadramawt province.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the militant network’s powerful Yemeni branch, earlier this month took advantage of the growing chaos to overrun Mukalla.
New vice president says he hopes to avert invasion
Military sources said AQAP now controls the whole of the city of more than 200,000 inhabitants, except for a camp of soldiers loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
Elsewhere in Hadramawt province, tribal forces took control of a major oil terminal after soldiers protecting the site withdrew, a military source said.
The terminal, in the city of Al-Shihr, “fell under the complete control of tribal fighters after the military unit guarding it withdrew in the afternoon without resistance,” the source said.
Various armed groups have taken over parts of the deeply tribal country, where Houthi rebels are battling pro-Hadi forces.
