Sana'a: Two suicide bombers were killed when their explosive-laden motorcycle went off before arriving at their target in the Al Qaida-held province of Abyan.
The young men, in their early 20s, were apparently targeting a security checkpoint, the ministry of interior said yesterday.
The ministry also announced the Somalia-based Al Shabab extremist group has sent 300 members to support Al Qaida fighters in Yemen, who are braced for an offensive.
The ministry said that it arrested four of the Somali militants in the southern province of Lahj.
Mohammad Nasser Al Ameri, governor of the province of Al Bayda, confirmed two airstrikes that struck Al Qaida targets in the province on Friday had killed more than 30 militants including commanders. He didn't say whether US drones carried out the attack.
According to the ministry of defence website, the first strike targeted a gathering of Al Qaida militants in the area, while the second targeted caves used as ammunition stores. The governor claimed that the attack killed four Yemeni commanders, two Saudis, two Pakistanis, a Syrian and an Iraqi.
Al Bayda province has been turned into a militant stronghold since January.
Infiltration plan
In the strategic port city of Aden, local security officers put into action a plan to prevent any attempt at infiltration by Al Qaida militants.
Extra checkpoints were set up with armed vehicles deployed.
Fighters from Ansar Al Sharia, an Al Qaida-affiliated group, control large areas of the southern restive province of Abyan and a city in Shabwa.
In the deadliest attack since the beginning of fighting in May, militants carried out an assault last week on a military post in Abyan province, killing at least 180 and arresting 70 soldiers.
The militants threatened to behead the soldiers if the government failed to release Al Qaida prisoners.
Yemen's new president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, set up a committee to investigate the attack.
