ADEN, Yemen, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni counter-terrorism troops announced on Thursday the arrest of three armed militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch during a military operation in the southeastern province of Hadramout.
"Our special troops managed to storm a hideout of the al-Qaida militants and arrested three dangerous terrorists accused of carrying out attacks in the province," the spokesman of the Second Regional Military Command based in Hadramout said in a statement.
The three arrested al-Qaida militants have been wanted by security forces, noted the official spokesman, adding that counterterrorism operations will continue in Hadramout.
As part of the fighting against terrorism, the anti-terror forces in Hadramout were militarily equipped and trained by the UAE forces operating in Yemen, according to Yemeni officials.
A government official in Hadramout told Xinhua that "scores of al-Qaida militants are still taking refuge in the remote desert areas of the province and recruiting new fighters."
The al-Qaida terrorist group which frequently launches attacks in Shabwa and other provinces controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, has not commented on the arrest of its members in Hadramout province.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in Shabwa and Abyan provinces.
Yemen's government, allied with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels for control of the impoverished country.
Statistics showed that more than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict, most of them civilians, since the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015.
The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera outbreak and is on the edge of famine.
