(CNN) -- Fourteen al-Qaeda militants surrendered to local authorities Monday in Yemen's southern Abyan province, state media reported.
Governor Ahmad al-Misari said in a written statement that heightened security measures by local government, as well as pressure from social figures, clerics, and the parents of the militants contributed to their surrender, according to Yemen's official news agency, Saba.
Five of the 14 were considered local al-Qaeda leadership, it said.
Security officials expect additional surrenders in the coming days, adding to a group of al-Qaeda militants arrested last month, Saba reported.
The arrests come shortly after authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Britain found two packages with explosives on board cargo flights shipped from Yemen and destined for synagogues in Chicago, Illinois.
Two schools in Yemen were being looked at in connection with the plot and had been on U.S. radar before, a U.S. official said.
