Aden: Four Yemeni soldiers were killed in a Sunday suicide attack on a checkpoint near the international airport in second city Aden, home to a growing terrorist presence, a security official said.
“A suicide bomber driving a bomb-laden vehicle blew himself up on Sunday upon arrival at a checkpoint near Aden airport,” the official told AFP.
“Four soldiers were killed and two others were wounded,” he added, without blaming any group for the attack.
Yemen has been rocked by more than a year of fighting between Iran-backed Al Houthis and pro-government forces, supported by a Saudi-led coalition.
Terrorists have exploited the unrest, with Al Qaida and Daesh strengthening their presence in the south, including in Aden, which is serving as a temporary capital for the government.
Both groups have claimed several attacks against the army and government installations in the port city.
On Friday, a car bomb exploded in the port city near a building housing the foreign ministry, without causing casualties, security sources said.
Daesh claimed responsibility for that attack and also for a suicide bombing Tuesday in Aden targeting army recruits that killed five.
Forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against terrorists in recent weeks, backed by the firepower of the Arab coalition.
Late Saturday, five Al Qaida suspects were killed in Arab coalition air raids against two vehicles carrying terrorists in Jaar, a town in the southern Abyan province, security officials said.
Other strikes hit suspected militants in Abyan’s provincial capital Zinjibar, the sources said, without providing a casualty toll.
Pro-government forces on Friday expelled Al Qaida militants from Al Houta, another provincial capital close to Aden, and arrested 49 people suspected of being militants, security officials said.
The United Nations has raised alarm over the growing influence of Al Qaida in Yemen and the mounting civilian toll from the coalition air strikes as it pushed all sides to come to the negotiating table for talks to be held in Kuwait on Monday.
More than 6,400 people have been killed since a Saudi-led Arab coalition stepped in on Yemen’s request to restore the legitimate government.
