“A bomb explosion struck a military pick-up truck carrying pro-government army personnel when they were driving along a road in Al Mahfid district of Abyan province,” the local military source said on condition of anonymity on Friday.

The incident occurred in an area where sporadic fighting is still going on between pro-government forces and scores of al-Qaida gunmen, according to the source.

Reinforcements of the southern pro-government forces backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition arrived in the area just hours after the bombing, he added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Yemeni military and government officials often hold the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch responsible for such attacks, Xinhua news agency reported.

In September, forces loyal to the Yemeni government evicted scores of militants of the al-Qaida terrorist group from Abyan following days of armed confrontations.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula network has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence in the war-ravaged Arab country. It has carried out many high-profile attacks against the security forces in the country’s southern provinces.

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