The development comes as violent clashes are reported in the city of Taiz between rebels and forces loyal to Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
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Yemen’s president, Hadi, is in Saudi Arabia, in self-imposed exile after he and most of the government fled the rebel advance earlier this year.
Upon entering al-Lahoum, al-Qaida fighters demolished a building after accusing its owner of being an agent for Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his allies, the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, the officials also said.
The Houthis took unprecedented prominence in September when they overran key government institutes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, including the presidential palace, and later gained effective control of several provinces in the south.
Militia forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition have registered another victory against the Houthi rebels in the province of Abyan.
The Arab coalition has enforced a near-blockade on the country to prevent arms shipments, but had for nearly four months allowed trade and aid vessels to dock at Houthi-controlled ports to relieve hungry and impoverished Yemenis in the north. They will be exchanged for seven Al Houthi military commanders held in Aden.
In a separate development on Sunday, Yemeni security sources said that aircraft from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition had “accidentally” bombed Zinjibar, killing 20 civilians.
They say the troops, using tanks and other military equipment supplied by a Saudi-led coalition, were attacking Zinjibar from the north and south.
The interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had noted that some elderly men, particularly those living near the border, had approached authorities to legalise the situation of their “unidentified” wives, despite knowing they were breaking the law.
Yemenis are suffering from a shortage of food, water and medicine in the Arab world’s poorest country.
Since March 26, Saudi Arabia has been pounding various areas in Yemen – without a UN mandate.
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According to the United Nations, the war on Yemen has killed some 4,000 people, almost half of them civilians, since late March.
