Sanaa: The death tolls of severe clashes between Yemini troops and suspected al-Qaeda militants have risen to 22 including 10 soldiers and 12 militants in Abyan province of Yemen, here on Friday.
According to media reports, severe clashes broke out in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan Friday morning after a suicide car bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle near an army base.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Yemini security official said that the suicide attacker detonated his booby-trapped car near the gate of the 115th Armored Army Brigade in the coastal town of Shakra, killing at least 10 soldiers and injuring 18 others at the scene.
According to local residents, the explosion was followed by indirect fire mortars that aimed at the military base.
Just a few minutes after the bombing, scores of suspected al- Qaida members armed with shoulder-held rocket launchers and assault rifles attacked the army base, a security official confirmed.
According to the security source, the armed attack sparked an intense fighting between the attackers and government soldiers guarding the base, leaving at least 12 militants killed at the site.
No one has yet claimed the responsibility of the attack but the suicide attack bear the hallmarks of the global terror network.
Yemen’s military launched a month-long offensive earlier this year and forced al-Qaeda militants to flee several of their bastions in the country’s restive southern and eastern provinces, which they captured during last year’s political turmoil.
The resurgent Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, which has increased its attacks on both foreign and government targets in the Arabian Peninsula state, vowed to carry out more suicide attacks to take revenge.
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