(VOVworld) – The pro-government force attacked and killed Ali Abed al-Rab bin Talab, a high-ranking leader of the terrorist network Al Qaeda, and 3 people near a security checkpoint in the southern Abyan province, Yemeni officials said on Saturday.

Yemeni boys look at a vehicle destroyed during a police raid on an al-Qaida militant hideout in the Arhab region, north of Sana'a, Yemen, May 27, 2014. (Photo: AP)

The convoy of Ali Abed al-Rab bin Talab was attacked on Friday while heading to the coastal city of Aden, south Yemen. Abu Anwar is the chief judge of the court established by Al Qaeda in Hadramawt, Yemen’s largest city, which Al Qaeda largely controls. Yemen descended into chaos since Houthi rebels, aided by forces loyal to Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured the capital city Sana’a in September 2014, then moved southwards in March, 2015 and gained control of a significant part of Yemen’s territory.