Al-Qaeda militants took control of large parts of a provincial city in southeastern Yemen, residents told AFP on Friday, a day after the extremist group released 300 inmates from a jail in the region.
Witnesses said they saw several hundred militants setting up roadblocks in central and western parts of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province. Key facilities in the eastern area of the city "are still under the control of government forces," a local official told AFP, including army camps, the airport and the port.
Yemen's southern parts have seen conflict escalating since the Houthis made advances in the port city of Aden.
