32 die in suicide attack in Yemen

The attack occurred while the soldiers were in a long queue to receive their monthly salaries.

Aden, Dec 18: Thirty-two pro-government soldiers were killed and several injured when a suicide attacker struck their gathering in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Sunday, the military said. "The suicide bomber detonated his explosives among scores of soldiers gathered outside the house of Brigadier Nasser Anbouri" in KhorMaksar area, Xinhua news agency quoted a military official as saying.

The attack occurred while the soldiers were in a long queue to receive their monthly salaries. All the dead soldiers were members of the newly-trained special security forces operating in Aden province, according to the official. The suicide attack comes less than two weeks after a similar attack claimed by the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State group struck an army base near Aden's international airport, leaving 50 pro-government soldiers dead and more than 40 injured.

The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally-backed President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government. Aden has witnessed several well-planned assassinations and armed attacks after Saudi-backed forces drove the Shia Houthi rebels out of the strategic city in 2015.

However, the newly-trained anti-terrorism troops supported by UAE armoured vehicles made substantial achievements in recent weeks, disabling several explosive material factories used by terrorists to manufacture car bombs.

In addition, several commanders of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda branch were captured in the successful raids conducted by the UAE-backed Yemeni forces in Aden and neighbouring provinces.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al Qaeda insurgencies in the Middle East. The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against Yemen's army and governmental institutions. The AQAP and the IS-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.

IANS