Al-Qaeda militants seized the Yemeni town of Udain.

Yemeni security officials said on October 16 that gunmen believed to be linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network had seized the town of Udain in the southwest of the country.

According to a Yemeni security official, five police officers were killed in an overnight attack by gunmen on the town of Udain, 20km west of Ibb, the provincial capital. The gunmen attacked and set fire to police stations, local government offices, and a post office.

Houthi rebels on a street in Sanaa. (Source: THX/VNA)

Local officials believe the gunmen's attack on Udain was in retaliation for the Houthi Shi'ite rebels' seizure of the town of Ibb a few hours earlier.

Al-Qaeda is highly active in several key provinces in southern and southeastern Yemen. Meanwhile, Houthi rebels are active in the north, currently controlling Sanaa, the strategic port city of Hudeida, and the Dhamar province.

These forces encountered virtually no resistance when they captured Hudeida, Yemen's second-largest port city, and Sanaa. For years, taking advantage of the power vacuum in Yemen, the Houthi rebel group has attacked and seized key areas of the country. However, many fear that the Houthi rebels' expanding control could trigger a confrontation between them and Al-Qaeda militants.

Since the uprising that overthrew President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2002, Yemen – a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda – has been in a difficult political transition process marked by frequent violence.

According to VNA