ADEN (Reuters) - About 20 security forces were killed in an attack by al-Qaeda militants in the southern province of Abyan on Tuesday, before the eight attackers were killed, a military spokesman for Yemen's Southern Transitional Council said. Spokesman Muhammad al-Naqib told Reuters that the gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades, light and medium weapons, and military vehicles to attack a security checkpoint in the governorate's Ahwar district. The council, backed by the UAE, last month expanded its presence throughout Abyan, in a move it said was aimed at fighting "terrorist organizations". Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, has exploited the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-allied Houthis to bolster its influence. Al-Qaeda still has a presence in the Arabian Peninsula, despite the intense campaign launched ten years ago by the US army, the coalition and the Houthis, taking advantage of the chaos in the country, tribal sympathy, and the existence of vast empty spaces in southern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March of 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognized government from its headquarters in the capital, Sanaa. The Houthis have become the de facto authority in the north, while the Riyadh-backed government is based in the south