Friday, July 22, 2016
On Wednesday, in Aden, Yemen, a suicide bomber killed by varying reports from three to five policemen and injured as many as six others. No militant group claimed responsibility.Two days earlier at Mukalla, Yemen, as many as ten people were reported killed in two car explosions near two army check posts. A local Al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for that attack. Various statements from officials said fifteen to eighteen soldiers were injured, five critically.
The Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebel group announced on Tuesday they had launched a missile targeting the Yemeni-Saudi border.
General Faraj Salemine informed Agence France-Presse at least five Yemeni soldiers were killed in the incidents on Monday. al-Qaeda identified Abu Tariq al-Sana’ani and Amir Tariq al-Sana’ani as the attackers who attacked southwest of the city near al-Burum and west in al-Ghaber. Previously, Mukalla was a stronghold of group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Mukalla is the capital of Yemen’s Hadramaout province. AQAP controlled the city for a year. Yemen faced attacks from Houthis in the northern and central areas. In April, pro-government troops took control over the city with the help of Saudi and Emirati military forces.
While this has gone on, al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant groups have attacked the Yemeni army. Last month, suicide bombers claimed by ISIL killed at least 38 people in Mukalla.
In the last fifteen months, over 6,400 people reportedly were killed in fighting in the country. The civil war began in 2014, and has included competition between al Qaeda and ISIL. The fighting reportedly has displaced more than 2.5 million civilians.