BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:20 A.M.) – At least five soldiers from the Emirati (UAE) Army were killed on Friday when a group of unknown assailants carried out a surprise attack on a military checkpoint in southern Yemen.

According to a report from southern Yemen, the Emirati soldiers were killed in a surprise attack by a group of unknown assailants in the Mudiyah District of the Abyan Governorate.

The unknown assailants reportedly attacked the Emirati soldiers were machine gunfire and RPGs before they would retreat into an unknown direction.

No group has claimed responsibility for this latest attack.

However, while no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is believed that the assailants were from Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Al-Qaeda was once in control of a large portion of the Abyan Governorate, but an offensive in 2017 by the UAE-backed forces managed put an end to their reign over much of the province.