Aden: A suicide bomber linked to Al Qaida killed himself and three others inside the headquarters of government-allied militias in the capital of southern Yemen’s Abyan province on Friday, a security source and medical sources told Reuters.
The man, wearing an explosive belt, walked into one of the main offices of militias, or popular committees, in Zinjibar and blew himself up, the sources said.
Military and government security chiefs in Yemen’s south rely on the support of popular committees, which consist mainly of tribal militias, in their fight against militants.
The Yemen-based Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqap) and other militant groups strengthened their grip in Abyan and other mainly southern parts of the country during an uprising that led to long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh being forced out of office in February.
The United States, wary of the threat to neighbouring Saudi Arabia and to nearby shipping lanes, has stepped up drone strikes on suspected militant positions in Yemen, with the backing of Saleh’s successor, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
