Sanaa, July 26: Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen have attacked a military checkpoint near an oil facility in Yemen’s southeastern province of Shabwa, killing six soldiers.
The incident happened on Sunday when a group of armed militants opened fire on the soldiers at the checkpoint in the bloc S2 area of al-Oqlah oil facility — an oil exploration field operated by the Austrian company, OMV.
Security sources suggested al-Qaeda was behind the attack, saying it was the fourth such assault on state targets since June, said German news agency DPA.
There were no reports of any damage to energy installations.
Suspected al-Qaeda attacks have intensified on Yemeni facilities since the launch of security coordination between Sana’a and Washington and a crackdown on militants by the government.
Three days prior to the Sunday attack, five people were killed when a police patrol was targeted in Ataq, provincial capital of Shabwa, some 570 kilometers southeast of Sana’a.
——–Agencies