![Yemeni tribesmen loyal to the government stop cars at a makeshift security checkpoint along a desert road in the Beihan district in Shabwa province on December 18th, 2017. [Abdullah al-Qadry/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2018/01/30/11304-shabwa-checkpoint-attack-700_496.webp)
Al-Qaeda gunmen on Tuesday (January 30th) carried out a suicide attack against a checkpoint manned by Shabwa elite forces in Nokhan, east of the Shabwa provincial capital of Ataq, killing at least 14 soldiers and wounding 16 others, a military official told Al-Mashareq.
They opened fire on the checkpoint and launched mortars after a suicide bomber rammed his booby-trapped vehicle into the checkpoint, local media reported.
"Al-Qaeda elements attacked the checkpoint with large numbers of gunmen who outnumbered the checkpoint personnel," said Shabwa elite forces commander Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Azmi.
The extremist elements arrived in small groups and assembled in an area overlooking Nokhan, where the UAE-trained special operations forces were positioned, he said.
"They then attacked the soldiers, taking advantage of the element of surprise," said al-Azmi, noting that "a limited number of soldiers were attending to their security duties while the rest were asleep".
"The attackers then fled towards the desert," he said, adding that ambulances rushed to the area to attend to the injured.
"The Shabwa elite forces are taking this extremely seriously and will pursue the terrorists in their own hideouts," he said.
Al-Azmi urged residents and tribesmen to co-operate with the security forces by reporting any presence of terror elements in the area.
Extremist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), have exploited the Yemeni war to expand their presence in southern Yemen.
In August, Yemen's UAE-trained special forces launched an operation against AQAP, which saw the group retreat from Shabwa with no major clashes.
