ADEN: Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for twin suicide car bomb attacks yesterday that killed seven soldiers in Yemen, as fresh violence shook the increasingly unstable country where rival militias are battling for control.
The attacks targeted an army headquarters in Yemen’s southeast, a stronghold of Al Qaeda.
Military sources said yesterday’s attacks saw two explosive-laden vehicles detonated at the base in the town of Seiyun in Hadramawt province.
“Seven soldiers were killed and eight others wounded,” one source said, adding that the blasts came shortly after the arrival of a convoy carrying a general, who was unharmed.
Another source said one of the vehicles exploded at the entrance to the headquarters complex while the other managed to make it about 30 metres inside before exploding after hitting an army vehicle.
Ansar Al Sharia, the main arm of Al Qaeda in Yemen, said in a statement on Twitter that two of its “martyrs” had carried out the attacks, which it claimed left “dozens of dead and wounded”.
Troops foiled a “third suicide bombing” that targeted an army checkpoint at the entrance of the nearby town of Shibam, a military official said.
“Troops opened fire at the vehicle 150 metres before it reached the checkpoint” and it exploded, the official said. He did not say if the blast caused any casualties.
A bomb also exploded in a square in Seiyun near a local government building, residents said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Elsewhere in Hadramawt province, suspected Al Qaeda militants late on Monday killed two soldiers and wounded a third in an ambush in the town of Shehr, a security source said.AFP
