At least 28 Yemeni soldiers were killed, and others injured, after gunmen blocked a main road and opened fire on their vehicles in southern Yemen on Saturday, hours before a U.N.-brokered ceasefire was scheduled to take effect, local security officials told CNN.
Many of the soldiers — loyal to Saudi-backed President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi — were found with their heads cut off, while others had been shot in the head, according to the officials.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Ahwar city in Abyan province. The al Qaeda-affiliated group Ansar al Sharia, which controls 70% of Abyan province, issued a statement denying involvement.
The U.N.-brokered ceasefire was set to go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday local time (4:59 p.m. ET) ahead of a planned resumption of peace talks in Kuwait between the Saudi-backed government of Hadi and the Shiite rebel Houthi militia.