(LWJ) — Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken control of yet another town in southern Yemen. The town of Al Koud fell to the terror group on Monday after heavy fighting over the weekend.
“Al Koud town, also known as Koud, has fallen into the hand of fighters of the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) as the Yemeni army forces have been continuously shelling the militants since Monday afternoon,” a Yemeni security official told Xinhua.
Al Koud, which is on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, is just several miles south of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan. Zinjibar is currently under AQAP control, and the terror group has battled government forces to a standstill since the city fell in late May. Three Yemeni Army brigades — one infantry, one mechanized, and one armored — are involved in the fighting in Zinjibar. Yesterday, Yemeni troops killed seven AQAP fighters, including an Iranian, a Pakistani, and two Somali nationals, during fighting in Zinjibar.
Al Koud (or Al Kawd as it is shown on the map above) is the latest population center to fall under AQAP control. The cities of Ja’ar, Shaqra, and Rawdah in Abyan are currently run by AQAP. The terror group also controls Azzan in Shabwa province.