A Yemeni court specialising in terrorism cases sentenced 10 people on Tuesday to between four and 10 years in prison for plotting attacks on behalf of al-Qaeda, a judicial source told AFP. Five of them were released on time served. The accused were found guilty of "forming an armed gang linked to al-Qaeda to attack vital installations, barracks, embassies, and security and military leaders," according to the chargesheet. Al-Qaeda took advantage of the weakening of central government by a 10-month uprising against veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 to sharply expand its operations across impoverished Yemen.