10 Al-Qaeda members captured in southern Yemen

Yemen's pro-government militiamen raided a terrorist cell and captured 10 al-Qaeda members on Sunday in Yemen's southern province of Abyan.

The militiamen destroyed an al-Qaeda terrorist cell operating in Abyan's Jaar town which was planning armed attacks on army posts in the region, a local tribal chief told Xinhua news agency.

Two of the al-Qaida members were behind an armed attack targeting a post run by pro-government militiamen last week.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch known locally as Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) took advantage of a political upheaval in 2011 in Yemen to take over several towns of the southern restive regions.

The militants were targeted by Yemeni security authorities after a US-backed offensive launched in Abyan province months ago rooted the militants out of their strongholds they had controlled for nearly one year.

The Yemeni government has beefed up anti-terror operations since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office.