8 killed in south Yemen attack on military base

Eight people were killed at a military base in Yemen when a car rigged with explosives blew up in the district of Mudiya in southern Abyan province on Monday.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

23 October, 2017

Yemen's southern provinces are the site of a long-running US drone war against AQAP [Getty]

Three Yemeni soldiers and five assailants were killed in an attack on a military base in the southern province of Abyan on Monday, a Yemeni security source said.

A car rigged with explosives carrying five men pulled up to a military base in the district of Mudiya, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

Four men wearing explosive belts ran out of the car and towards the base, and were all shot dead.

The vehicle then exploded outside of the base, killing the driver and three soldiers from a UAE-backed contingent in the Yemeni army.

Yemen's southern provinces, including Abyan, are the site of a long-running US drone war against al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch.

The United States, the only government to operate drones over the impoverished country, considers AQAP to be the radical group's most dangerous branch and backs the UAE-trained contingent in southern Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition - which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to roll back Houthi rebel gains - has also turned its firepower on Sunni jihadis and backed forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The Yemen war has killed 8,673 people and wounded 58,636 - among them many civilians, according to the UN.