Yemen police academy hit by suicide bomb blast The police academy is located near Sabeen Square where on May 21, a Yemeni soldier, packing powerful explosives under his uniform, blew himself up in the middle of an army battalion. Al-Qaeda claimed it was behind that attack that killed more than 100 troops and wounded more than 300 others. On June 23, Yemeni troops seized al-Qaeda's last bastion in the country's troubled southern and eastern provinces after a month-long offensive aimed at ousting the jihadists from territory they had controlled for about a year. Since their defeat, al-Qaeda has pledged to seek revenge. Late last month, an al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed Yemen's army commander for the south, General Salem Ali Qoton, who led the offensive against the militants. They have also left mines in the cities and towns they fled that has so far claimed the lives of dozens.