Al Mukalla: Yemen security forces in the southern province of Lahej on Sunday morning killed an Al Qaida militant and arrested three others in a raid on their hideout, local government official said.

Adeeb Al Sayed, a media aide to the governor of Lahej, told Gulf News that government forces stormed a house in the Al Mahela region, close to Aden city, killing local Al Qaida operative Abdul Rahman Al Laheji who refused to surrender.

“Security forces surrounded the house after receiving intelligence information that the militants were hiding inside,” Al Sayed said, adding that the forces stormed the house after the besieged militants began shooting at them.

The militants had arrived from their former stronghold in the Abyan province after government forces liberated it.

Until early last year, the entire Lahej province had been an Al Qaida and Daesh stronghold and a training ground for the militants who carried deadly attacks against government facilities in the neighbouring Aden city.

A year ago, the government forces, trained and armed by the UAE, liberated the province and its capital Houta, forcing the militants to flee to other areas.

On January 31, local security authorities announced the killing of leading Daesh recruiter Ammar Mohammad Gayed in a raid on his house in Houta.

Al Sayed said that Gayed was a Daesh commander in Lahej and responsible for assassinating security officers and carrying attacks on the army in the province.

“His killing was a fatal blow to the militants who tried to regroup in Lahej after fleeing Abyan,” he said.

Dozens of Al Qaida operatives have been arrested or surrendered to local authorities since government forces recaptured the province.

Lahej’s governor is currently residing in Houta amid improving security.

Meanwhile, government forces marching along the western coast attacked Al Houthi forces north of Mocha, Taiz province, days after liberating the strategic Red Sea town free from rebel forces.

On Saturday, displaced residents of Mocha were urged to return after the army said it was safe to do so.

Major General Ahmad Sayed Al Yafae, the commander of Golden Arrow Operation, told Gulf News on Saturday that his forces backed by heavy air support from the Saudi-led coalition would advance towards the port city of Hodeida—the last major stronghold of Al Houthi forces on Yemen’s western coast.

If the seaport falls, it would deprive Al Houthis from a major source of cash, arms and fuel.