Dubai: A bomb killed at leat 20 soldiers and wounded around 30 more on Saturday at a military camp in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, where militants have been active in the past, security sources said.
The explosion came as hundreds of troops gathered to receive their monthly pay at the barracks in Al Sawlaban near the city’s international airport, they said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Daesh militants have repeatedly claimed responsibility for deadly attacks on troops in the southern port city, which is under the control of the internationally-recognised government.
Saudi Arabia stepped into Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 to fight Iran-backed Al Houthi militants and to help restore the legitimate government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
At least 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict which has unleashed a humanitarian crisis on the impoverished country.
In March earlier this year, pair of suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in Aden. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The bombers targeted young men seeking to join the army.
A campaign, backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, was then launched to oust Al Qaida from bastions it had carved out in the Hadramout, Abyan and Lahej provinces in Yemen’s south.
On April 24, Yemeni troops backed by coalition forces, successfully booted the terrorist group from Al Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout.
UAE military officers have trained thousands of young people who participated in many massive military operations that pushed rebel fighters and Al Qaida militants out of major cities in Southern Yemen.
Yemeni forces later went on to liberate other provinces.
Al Qaida and Daesh militants have carried out sporadic guerilla attacks on Yemeni forces since their major defeat.
