ADEN, Yemen, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Altogether seven civilians were killed during armed confrontations between the security forces and unknown gunmen in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Tuesday, a security official told Xinhua.
The clashes took place in Sheikh Othman district of Aden when special security forces launched a raid to apprehend a wanted man suspected of links to the Islamic State (IS) group, the security source said on condition of anonymity.
He said that following the anti-terror raid, a group of masked gunmen attacked a security checkpoint in the same neighborhood, wounding at least three soldiers.
Other security soldiers arrived and engaged in a two-hour fighting with the unknown attackers, according to the source.
The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally-backed President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government.
Aden witnessed several well-planned assassinations and armed attacks after Saudi-backed forces drove the Shiite Houthi rebels out from the strategic city in July 2015.
However, the newly-trained anti-terrorism troops supported by United Arab Emirates (UAE) armored vehicles made substantial achievements in recent months, disabling several explosive material factories used by terrorists to manufacture car bombs in Aden.
In addition, several commanders of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch were captured in the successful raids conducted by the UAE-backed Yemeni forces in Aden and neighboring provinces.
Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.
The Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as "Ansar al-Sharia," emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against Yemen's army and governmental institutions.
The AQAP and the IS-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.
Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Over 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, many of them civilians.
