A suicide bomber killed at least eight soldiers in an attack on a military camp in Yemen's southern city of Zinjibar at dawn on Friday, a local official and residents said.

The bomber, wearing a military uniform, drove a car that exploded at the entrance of the camp. Ten others were wounded.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since March 2015 between the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, and Iran-allied Houthis.

Residents said they heard a loud explosion at dawn in the city, the capital of Abyan province.

The bomber is suspected to be an al Qaeda member, the local official said.

Similar attacks have taken place in the past few months with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) a suspect in targeting military posts. </s> Bomber wearing a military uniform was driving a car that exploded at the entrance of a military camp.

A suicide bomber killed at least eight soldiers in an attack on a military camp in Yemen's southern city of Zinjibar at dawn on Friday, a local official and residents said.

The bomber, wearing a military uniform, struck Najda Camp in the Abyan provincial along the coast from second city Aden where the government has its headquarters.

He failed to get through the gate and heavy exchanges of gunfire ensued as other attackers tried to penetrate the base.

Residents said they heard a loud explosion at dawn in the city, the capital of Abyan province. The bomber was suspected to be an al al-Qaeda member, the local official said.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since March 2015 between the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, and Iran-allied Houthi rebels.

At least 10,000 people have died in the mostly stalemated conflict, which has unleashed a humanitarian and hunger crisis in the already poor Arabian Peninsula country. </s> The official said the strike took place at dawn on Saturday on a road to the north of Jaar in Abyan Governorate, near Aden. He did not say who was behind the strike, but previous drone strikes have been carried out by the United States.

Washington does not usually comment on drone strikes.

Yemen is home to an al Qaeda wing that has planned to attack international airliners and was once described by Washington as the movement's most dangerous branch. Impoverished and turbulent, Yemen is located next door to the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and major crude shipment routes.

The United States has stepped up attacks on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Yemeni officials said at least six suspected militants were killed in two drone strikes last month. Another six suspected al Qaeda members were killed in January.

Militants allied to AQAP took advantage of Arab Spring chaos in Yemen in early 2011 to seize control of some towns in the country's southern provinces, including Jaar. Although they were pushed from the towns last year they continue to fight government forces. </s> ADEN: An Islamic State group militant rammed his explosives-laden car into an army recruiting center in Aden yesterday, killing 71 people in the deadliest jihadist attack on the Yemeni city in over a year. The army, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, is training young recruits to join its nationwide war against Houthi rebels and their allies, as well as other militants. Aden is the temporary base of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which was forced into exile after Iran-backed insurgents seized Sanaa and other parts of the war-torn country.

Security officials told AFP the attacker drove the car bomb into a gathering of recruits at a school in the north of the port city. The recruits were among 5,000 newly enrolled soldiers being trained to fight the Houthi rebels in the north along the border with Saudi Arabia, military sources said. Although the complex was locked as recruits registered inside, the attacker drove in when the gate was opened for a delivery vehicle, officials said.

Witnesses said some recruits were buried when a roof collapsed after the blast which left a gaping hole on the building’s facade. Debris was scattered around the complex and nearby buildings were damaged. The assault killed at least 71 people and wounded 98, medical sources told AFP. They could not immediately verify whether all those who died were army recruits. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Twitter that its hospital in Aden “received 45 dead and at least 60 wounded” following the explosion.

Aden has experienced a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces. Attacks in the city are often claimed by jihadists from either Al-Qaeda or IS, which have both taken advantage of the chaos in Yemen to make gains in the south and southeast. IS claimed yesterday’s bombing on its official propaganda outlet, Amaq. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a large group of army reinforcements sent from Aden to fight jihadists in neighboring Lahj, killing five soldiers, military officials said. No group has claimed that attack.

But on July 20, four policemen were killed in a bombing attack in Aden that was claimed by IS. And in May, twin suicide bombings in Aden claimed by IS killed at least 41 people. Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in the city over the past two months as part of operations to retake neighbouring southern provinces from jihadists. Earlier this month, government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition entered Abyan’s provincial capital of Zinjibar.

Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in the key Al-Qaeda stronghold of Al-Mahfid, security sources said. The militants still have a presence in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of neighboring Shabwa province, the sources say. The Arab coalition battling the rebels and their allies in Yemen has also been providing troops with air cover throughout their war against the jihadists.

The United States has carried out numerous drone strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year and have helped government forces push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces since July 2015. The war in Yemen has also impacted security in Saudi Arabia, where shelling from the kingdom’s impoverished neighbor killed three Saudi children and wounded nine other people on Sunday. Cross-border attacks from Yemen have intensified since the suspension in early August of UN-brokered peace talks between the rebels and the Saudi-backed government.

A plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) landed at Sanaa airport yesterday, carrying insulin for thousands of people suffering from diabetes. “Yemen’s health sector is in a terrible state,” said the head of the ICRC in Yemen, Alexandre Faite. “Less than 30 percent of the required medicines and medical supplies have entered Yemen in 2015,” he added. – AFP </s> A suicide bomber has killed at least eight soldiers in an attack on a military camp in Yemen's southern city of Zinjibar at dawn, according to local official and residents.

The bomber, wearing a military uniform, on Friday struck Najda Camp in the Abyan provincial capital along the coast from second city Aden where the government has its headquarters.

He failed to get through the gate and heavy exchanges of gunfire ensued as other attackers tried to penetrate the base.

Residents said they heard a loud explosion at dawn in Zinjibar. The bomber was suspected to be an al-Qaeda member, the local official said.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since March 2015 between the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by an Arab coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia and Iran-allied Houthi rebels.

US inquiry urged

Separately, Human Rights Watch, the US-based international organisation, urged the US government on Friday to open an investigation into the deaths of civilians, including children, in a US assault in Yemen.

The January 29 raid in Yakla, in central Yemen, also left one US Navy Seal dead and six American soldiers wounded.

A military aircraft suffered a hard landing and had to be destroyed in the assault, which occurred just days after US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

READ MORE: UN: $4.4bn needed to prevent 'catastrophe' of famine

Human Rights Watch said that at least nine children were among the slain civilians. A hospital director also said that the wounded had no access to medical care for hours.

Nadim Houry, HRW terrorism director, said the US needs to "go a step further and provide a full accounting of possible laws-of-war violations".

At least 10,000 people have died in the mostly stalemated conflict, which has prompted a humanitarian and hunger crisis in the already poor Arabian Peninsula country. </s> FILE – In this June 15, 2012, file photo, an al-Qaida logo is seen on a street sign in the town of Jaar in southern Abyan province, Yemen. Yemeni officials and tribal leaders say al-Qaida militants targeted a military camp in southern Abyan province with rocket propelled grenades and automatic rifles around midnight, setting off clashes that lasted until early morning on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. Arabic on the logo reads: “There is no god but God,” and “Muhammad is the messenger of God.” (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida militants targeted a military camp in Yemen’s southern Abyan province, killing at least 20 troops and setting off hours-long clashes that lasted into early morning Friday, Yemeni officials and tribal leaders said.

The attack began around midnight, with militants firing rocket propelled grenades at the camp belonging to members of a Yemeni force trained by the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.

The militants then overran the camp, seizing and confiscating equipment and weapons, before setting it on fire, according to the tribal leaders. There was no immediate claim of responsibility by al-Qaida but the officials said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the Sunni militant group.

The attack came a day after the main southern city of Aden was shaken by double attacks. The Houthi rebels fired a missile at a military parade of the same UAE-trained militia known as the Security Belt while suicide bombers blasted a police station in another of the city’s neighborhoods.

At least 51 people were killed in the double attacks — the deadliest day in Aden in nearly two years. The city has been the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is at war with the Houthis.

For nearly four years, Yemen has been torn by the civil war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, based in the capital, Sanaa, to the north, and the government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Islamic militants — both Yemen’s al-Qaida branch and the Islamic State group’s affiliate in the country — have exploited the chaos of the civil war to carry out bombings, shootings and assassinations in an effort to expand their footprints in Yemen, the Arab world’s most impoverished country.

In Thursday’s attacks in Aden, the Houthis announced they had fired a ballistic missile at the camp of the UAE-trained forces. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station.

Following the deadly attack in Abyan, to the east of Aden, security officials said the UAE-trained force sent reinforcements to pursue militants who had ransacked the Security Belt’s camp.

Meanwhile, Saudi-led forces launched airstrikes Friday on al-Qaida targets in the area.

The Yemeni officials and tribal leaders spoke on condition of anonymity, the officials because they were not authorized to talk to reporters and the tribal elders because they feared reprisals. </s> SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida militants targeted a military camp in Yemen's southern Abyan province, killing at least 20 troops and setting off hours-long clashes that lasted into early morning Friday, Yemeni officials and tribal leaders said.

The attack began around midnight, with militants firing rocket propelled grenades at the camp belonging to members of a Yemeni force trained by the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.

The militants then overran the camp, seizing and confiscating equipment and weapons, before setting it on fire, according to the tribal leaders. There was no immediate claim of responsibility by al-Qaida but the officials said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the Sunni militant group.

The attack came a day after the main southern city of Aden was shaken by double attacks. The Houthi rebels fired a missile at a military parade of the same UAE-trained militia known as the Security Belt while suicide bombers blasted a police station in another of the city's neighborhoods.

At least 51 people were killed in the double attacks — the deadliest day in Aden in nearly two years. The city has been the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is at war with the Houthis.

For nearly four years, Yemen has been torn by the civil war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, based in the capital, Sanaa, to the north, and the government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Islamic militants — both Yemen's al-Qaida branch and the Islamic State group's affiliate — have exploited the chaos of the civil war to carry out bombings, shootings and assassinations in an effort to expand their footprints in Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished country.

In Thursday's attacks in Aden, the Houthis announced they had fired a ballistic missile at the camp of the UAE-trained forces. That attack killed 40 troops.

On Friday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Aden police station, which killed 11. In a statement posted on an IS-linked website, the group said it targeted "apostate" Yemeni officers loyal to the UAE and identified one of the suicide bombers involved in the attack.

Following the deadly attack in Abyan, to the east of Aden, security officials said the UAE-trained force sent reinforcements to pursue militants who had ransacked the Security Belt's camp.

Meanwhile, Saudi-led forces launched airstrikes Friday on al-Qaida targets in the area.

The Yemeni officials and tribal leaders spoke on condition of anonymity, the officials because they were not authorized to talk to reporters and the tribal elders because they feared reprisals. </s> ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on a military parade in Aden, the seat of the Saudi-backed government, that killed more than 30 people according to medical and security sources.

A Reuters witness saw nine bodies on the ground after an explosion hit a military camp belonging to the Yemeni Security Belt forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, which is a member of the Saudi-led military coalition battling the Houthis.

The attack killed at least 32 people, a medical and a security source told Reuters. Medecins Sans Frontieres tweeted that tens of wounded were hospitalized.

Soldiers screamed and ran to lift the wounded and place them on trucks. Red berets lay on the ground in pools of blood.

The Houthi’s official channel Al Masirah TV said the group had launched a medium-range ballistic missile and an armed drone at the parade, which it described as being staged in preparation for a military move against provinces held by the movement.

A pro-government military source and security sources said a commander, Brigadier General Muneer al-Yafee, a leading figure of the southern separatists, was among those killed.

“The blast occurred behind the stand where the ceremony was taking place at Al Jalaa military camp in Buraiqa district in Aden,” the Reuters witness said. “A group of soldiers were crying over a body believed to be of the commander.”

Yafee had just stepped off the stage to greet a guest when the explosion took place. Flags of the former South Yemen and those of leading coalition members were fluttering as the military band was waiting for its cue to start playing.

The Western-backed Sunni Muslim coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.

The government of Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi controls the southern port city of Aden. The Houthi movement, which says its revolution is against corruption, holds Sanaa and most of the biggest urban centers in the Arabian Peninsula nation.

The parade “was being used to prepare for an advance on Taiz and Dalea,” Masirah cited a Houthi military spokesman as saying.

There was no immediate comment from the Yemeni government or the coalition.

Last month the UAE said it was scaling down its presence in Yemen, pulling some troops from areas including Aden and the western coast deployed for operations against the Houthis in the main port city of Hodeidah, where a U.N.-brokered ceasefire has been in place since last December.

An Emirati official said the UAE would not leave a vacuum in Yemen as it had trained 90,000 Yemeni forces, drawn from among southern separatists, including Security Belt forces, and coastal plains fighters.

The Houthis have stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities and the coalition has responded with air strikes on Houthi military sites, mostly around Sanaa.

The escalating violence could complicate U.N.-led efforts to implement a troop withdrawal in Hodeidah, the main entry point for Yemen’s commercial and aid imports, to pave the way for political talks to end the war amid mistrust among all parties and competing agendas of Yemen’s fractious groups.

The more than four-year conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands and pushed Yemenis to the brink of famine.

In a separate attack in another district of Aden on Thursday, an explosives-laden car blew up at a police station killing three soldiers, a security source said.

It was not clear if the incidents were related. Previous car attacks in Yemen have been carried out by Islamist militant groups like al Qaeda. </s> Yemen officials: Al-Qaida kills at least 20 at military camp

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni officials and tribal leaders say al-Qaida militants targeted a military camp in southern Abyan province, killing at least 20 troops.

The militants attacked the camp with rocket propelled grenades and automatic rifles around midnight, setting off clashes that lasted until early morning on Friday. The troops targeted are members of a force trained by the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels since 2015.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to talk to reporters. The tribal leaders asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

Al-Qaida's Yemen branch has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war. The attack came a day after Yemen's southern city of Aden was hit by double attacks that killed 51 people.
At least 19 Yemeni soldiers are killed by an Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula attack on a military camp in Abyan, Yemen.