Al Qaeda Blamed for Attack in Yemen
Baku, March 5 (AZERTAC). At least 35 Yemeni soldiers were killed Sunday in an attack by al Qaeda-linked fighters that began with twin suicide bombings, medical officials said, continuing a wave of attacks launched since a new president took office vowing to fight the group.
A Yemeni army officer said at least 20 Islamist militants also died in the fighting in the country`s unstable south, located near Red Sea oil-shipping routes. The militants overran a military base after the bombings, capturing heavy weapons and turning them on soldiers, officials said.
Yemen`s restive southern provinces are among President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi`s chief security concerns and a source of immediate headaches since he officially took over as head of state less than two weeks ago. The U.S., which backed his succession, has made the campaign against al Qaeda a major demand and has waged its own campaign of assassinations by drone strikes against group members.
Residents and local officials said the Yemeni army sent reinforcements from the nearby port city of Aden after the cars blew up near military positions at the southern and western entrances to the city of Zinjibar, and the militants overran the base. A Defense Ministry statement also suggested the militants occupied the base before army forces regrouped and took it back.
Military officials said that the militants were able to seize armored vehicles, artillery pieces, assault rifles and rockets from the base`s stores and that some of the heavy weapons were later used against the troops, causing most of the casualties.
Medics at a military hospital in Aden said bodies of 35 soldiers had been brought in, and dozens more were wounded. The number of casualties was likely to rise, they said.
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