ADEN, Yemen, April 9 (Xinhua) -- About 19 army soldiers were killed during an ambush by militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch in the country's southern province of Abyan on Saturday morning, a military official told Xinhua.

"Masked al-Qaida attackers ambushed three trucks carrying dozens of travelers, most of who are army soldiers in the tribal area of Ahwar in southern Abyan province, killing about 19 soldiers at the scene," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

"The army soldiers were traveling to another province in order to receive their monthly salaries, but unfortunately were killed in a heinous way before reaching their destination," the military source said.

However, a tribal chief told Xinhua that "the al-Qaida terrorists forced the three trucks to move to a rugged area and then executed some of the soldiers by knives."

"Several bodies were found with their heads separated and other soldiers were killed by gunshots, " the anonymous tribal source said by phone.

Abyan province, the home of Yemen's internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is 45 km away from the port city of Aden, the country's temporary capital.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The AQAP, also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

It took advantage of the current security vacuum and the ongoing civil war to expand its influence in Yemen's southern regions.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians.