article_snippet.sent: Al Qaida came  amid wider chaos pitting Shiite rebels against forces loyal to the exiled president and a Saudi-led air campaign.
article_snippet.sent: Military officials and residents said Al Qaida clashed briefly with members of one of Yemen's largest brigades outside Mukalla, a city the militants overran earlier this month and where Al Qaida freed prison inmates.
article_snippet.sent: the Yemeni affiliate is known has exploited the chaos in Yemen, where Shiite rebels, along with allied military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured the capital in September and have been advancing despite a three-week Saudi-led air campaign.
article_snippet.sent: Shiite rebels are staunch opponents of Al Qaida but are currently locked in fierce battles with forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia last month.
article_snippet.sent: the city is the capital of Yemen's largest province, Hadramawt, where Al Qaida has long maintained a presence despite US drone strikes and Yemeni counter terrorism operations.
article_snippet.sent: A Saudi-led coalition has been striking the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and A Saudi-led coalition allies from the air since March 26, but has carried out no attacks on Mukalla or other Al Qaida-controlled areas.