Dozens of al-Qaeda militants Sunday morning seized a city in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda. The al-Qaeda members -- backed by armored vehicles -- stormed the al- Bayda province overnight, taking control over the Radda city from all surrounding entrances and directions.

A small security barrack in the city was unable to confront the storming campaign of the well-armed groups and the police forces didn't show any kind of resistance, according to a report in the Israeli media.

Al-Baydda province, which borders the province of Abyan, is considered to be the latest stronghold of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorist group.

In al-Baydda's neighboring province of Abyan, the government forces backed by U.S. Marine troops and air force have been fighting militants of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for more than eight months after the terrorists took over Abyan's capital city of Zinjibar in late May 2011.

The AQAP group has seized several cities and towns across the restive southern provinces, as the Yemeni government forces engaged in fierce clashes with militants over past months, leaving hundreds of people killed.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in January 2009 by a merger between two regional offshoots of the international radical Islamist network in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

It has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in the two countries over the past 12 months, and has been blamed by U.S. intelligence officials for attempting to blow up a U.S. passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.

A Nigerian man charged in the incident, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has allegedly told U.S. investigators that AQAP operatives trained him in Yemen, equipped him with a powerful explosive device and told him what to do.

He also warned there were others like him who would strike soon.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula first came to prominence in Saudi Arabia when it claimed responsibility for simultaneous suicide bombing attacks on three Western housing compounds in Riyadh, which left 29 dead.

Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, and he's a columnist for Examiner.com. In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com) and editor of Conservative Base Magazine (www.conservativebase.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.

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