ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni counter-terrorism troops backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrested on Wednesday 10 militants linked to extremist groups during an operation conducted in the southern port city of Aden.
According to a statement issued by Aden's Police Command, the captured insurgents were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against government and military institutions in Aden.
The security forces raided a number of buildings in Aden's neighborhood of Qalou in a pre-dawn anti-terror operation supervised by intelligence officers, the statement added.
A security official told Xinhua that "powerful firearms, huge ammo, explosives and military suits were confiscated by the troops inside one of the buildings."
"The intelligence department of Aden's police learned of possible terrorist attack, the troops got an alert and began raiding operations that ended in nabbing dangerous elements," it said.
The security operation comes just hours after a well-known cleric loyal to the UAE was assassinated in a roadside bombing in Aden.
The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally-backed President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government.
Aden witnessed several well-planned assassinations and armed attacks after Saudi-backed forces drove the Shiite Houthi rebels out from the strategic city in July 2015.
Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted the UN-backed transitional government and occupied capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014.
The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the other parts including the capital Sanaa.
The UN has sponsored peace talks between the warring factions several times, but the factions failed to reach common ground.
The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two million, according to humanitarian agencies.
