Sunday, March 4, 2012

Gunmen attack two security bases in southeast Yemen, one soldier killed

Yemen division 2011-10-23
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ADEN, Yemen, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen launched attacks Saturday afternoon against two bases of the Yemeni security forces in the southeastern province of Hadramout, killing at least one soldier and injuring 20 others, a security official told Xinhua.

The unidentified attackers tossed three home-made grenades at the main gates of two headquarters affiliated to the central security forces in the coastal city of al-Mukalla, the capital city of Hadramout province, killing at least one soldier and injuring 20 others, the security official said on condition of anonymity.

"The masked assailants believed to be linked to the al-Qaida militants carried out two simultaneous attacks targeting the security headquarters in al-Mukalla city, causing huge explosions at the center of the military bases," the official said.

"The gunmen managed to flee the scene after conducting the operation by motorbikes," he said.

A local medic at a nearby hospital said that "one soldier was killed and 20 others injured in the explosion."

Local residents told Xinhua anonymously that "huge blasts rocked the neighborhoods of al-Mukalla followed by an exchange of heavy gunfire between the gunmen and the police troops."

The armed attacks came just hours after two al-Qaida suicide bombers drove a vehicle laden with explosives into an army base of the elite Republican Guards forces in the southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing themselves and a soldier, the country's Defense Ministry said.

Hadramout province, about 794 km southeast of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, has witnessed a suicide attack on a presidential palace that killed about 30 members of the Republican Guards last week.

Yemen's southern and eastern regions have recently been rocked by a string of suicide car bombings targeting government buildings and military officials. The government authorities usually accuse militants of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of committing the crimes.

Newly-elected President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi vowed to strengthen security and intelligence cooperation with the United States in combating the AQAP, which has threatened the daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
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