Al Qaida steps up terror strikes in Yemen

Sana'a: The Al Qaida offshoot in Yemen, known as AQAP (Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula) has stepped up attacks on security bases, even as the country strives to recover from the aftermath of the political unrest.

The militant outfit was blamed on Saturday for two attempted terror attacks that were foiled in two Yemeni provinces.

On Saturday, two suicide bombers were killed and three soldiers injured as they broke into a Republican Guard base in the province of Al Bayda, Yemen's Ministry of Defence said.

The suicide bombers were inside a car, heavily loaded with explosives. As the car approached the gate of the base, the soldiers pre-emptively fired at the vehicle.

The car blew up along with the two assailants in it. A pedestrian was also injured in the failed attack. The Al Baydha province has become a hotbed of Al Qaida militants who took over Radda, a small town about 170km southeast of capital Sana'a in January.

In another incident, two bombs exploded outside a Central Security base in the suburbs of the port city of Mukallah, local sources told Gulf News. The bombs were planted near the gate of the base. Several soldiers suffered minor injuries.