Aden: Yemeni troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured an army headquarters adjoining Aden airport from suspected militants yesterday after an assault that killed 10 soldiers, the base commander said.
There was no immediate word on the fate of the officers who had been inside the headquarters building when it was seized by between 15 and 20 militants in the early hours.
The militants had penetrated the base after detonating two car bombs in the latest attack on security forces to hit the southern port city where Yemen’s government has set up base after rebels seized the capital Sana’a.
“Troops and special forces have regained control of the base after pushing back the militants, several of whom were killed in the fighting,” base commander General Nasser Sarie said.
A security source said that six militants were killed but that others managed to escape.
The recapture of the headquarters building came after troops exchanged rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire with the militants throughout the morning.
Apache attack helicopters of a Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in support of the government in March last year were in the skies above the base, witnesses said.
The base commander said coalition forces had assisted in the recapture of the headquarters building. The assailants, who were wearing military uniforms, penetrated the garrison after setting off one car bomb at its entrance and then ramming through a second and detonating it inside, a military source said. The twin bombs killed at least 10 soldiers. The attack came amid Eid Al Fitr celebrations.
Prime Minister Ahmad Bin Dagher, who was in Aden at the time of the attack, vowed that he would “not allow saboteurs to harm the security of residents and block the policies of the government.”
Army and police in Aden have come under repeated attack from both Daesh and its rival Al Qaida since they took back the city from the Al Houthi rebels who seized control of large parts of the country.
Both terror groups have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict between the government and the rebels to expand their presence in the south and southeast.
Last month, CIA director John Brennan told the US Senate Intelligence Committee that Al Qaida had several thousand “adherents and fighters” in Yemen while there are also “several hundred” fighters loyal to Daesh.
