ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A leading al-Qaida militant was killed during an anti-terror military operation by Yemen's armed forces in the southern province of Lahj on Wednesday, a security official told Xinhua.
Newly-recruited troops backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) raided the house of Ahmed Abdul-Nabi, a leading member of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, in a surprise operation, the local security source said on condition of anonymity.
Abdul-Nabi, wanted by Yemeni authorities over several terror attacks, was immediately killed after a short gunfight in the raid, the source said.
Two sons of the slain al-Qaida leader were captured by the troops and moved to neighboring Aden province for more investigation, he added.
A government official confirmed to Xinhua by phone that an intelligence-borne operation in Lahj ended in the killing of Abdul-Nabi after he refused to surrender himself to the armed forces.
Al-Qaida militants have intensified their drive-by attacks on security checkpoints in the Yemeni southern provinces as government forces backed by the UAE increase military operations against the group's hideouts in the war-plagued Arab country.
Yemeni government forces and the UAE armed forces operating in Aden have launched a new anti-terror military offensive "to root out al-Qaida militants from their strongholds in neighboring southern province of Abyan."
Thousands of newly-recruited southern soldiers joined the campaign after receiving military training and financial support from the UAE forces.
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.
