Suicide bomber targets pro-gov't soldiers

About 32 pro-government soldiers were killed and several others injured when a suicide attacker struck their gathering in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Sunday morning, a military official told Xinhua.

"The suicide bomber detonated his explosives among scores of soldiers who gathered outside the house of Brigadier Nasser Anbouri in Aden's district of KhorMaksar," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

"The suicide attack occurred while the soldiers were waiting in a long queue to receive their monthly salaries near the Anbouri's house," the local military official said.

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 killed and more than 40 others injured.

The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally-backed President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government.

Aden witnessed several well-planned assassinations and armed attacks after Saudi-backed forces drove the Shiite Houthi rebels out from the strategic city in July 2015.

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

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

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as "Ansar al-Sharia," 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.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, many of them civilians.

source: Xinhua