Eight people, including four members of Al Qaeda, were killed in Yemen’s Maarib province on Sunday during a clash between tribesmen and miltants.
The clash erupted after Al Qaeda fighters ambushed several members of the Al Rashid Munif tribe, wounding two of them, a Yemeni tribal source told Agence France Presse.
The tribesmen then shot retaliatory fire at the Islamists, killing four, the source added, noting that four Al Rashid Munif members were also killed, according to AFP.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) notorious for being the most active and dangerous branch of the militant Sunni group, is active in Maarib, east of Sanaa, as well as in other provinces in south and east Yemen, despite repeated army offensives designed to weaken the group.
AQAP militants took advantage of a decline in central government control during a 2011 uprising that forced veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power to seize large swathes of territory, according to AFP.
