At least 25 fighters of the Shia Houthi group were killed and scores of others wounded when a booby-trapped car struck a security post in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa on Friday, a government official said.
A suspected Al Qaida attacker detonated his booby-trapped car at a security post held by hundreds of Houthi gunmen in Bayhan region of the province, Xinhua reported.
A source close to the Houthi group confirmed that the Yemen-based Al Qaeda branch ordered its fighters to join the fighting alongside tribesmen allied with Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the Houthi group in the province.
Bayhan and several other regions in the province witnessed fierce battles between Houthis and pro-Hadi tribal militia during the past few days, leaving dozens of people dead from both sides.