A suicide bomber killed 16 Yemeni soldiers and wounded 18 others at a military post in the southern province of Abyan on Friday morning, authorities said.
The attacker “drove a car with explosive devices into an area reserved for security forces” in the Mudiyah district, said Mohamed al-Naqib, spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but militants linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have stepped up attacks on military installations in Yemen.
Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has exploited a nine-year conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and a Saudi-backed coalition to strengthen its influence in a country that borders Saudi Arabia and is close to major transit routes.
The Southern Transitional Council – which is allied with the Saudi coalition and controls much of the south, from which it wants to secede – has stepped up offensives against al-Qaeda elements in Abyan over the past year.
AQAP has survived years of attempted repression by the U.S. military, the coalition, and the Houthis, taking advantage of Yemen’s chaos, tribal sympathies, and large swathes of empty territory.
Source: Terra
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