Al-Qaeda attack kills 19 soldiers in Yemen

Al-Qaeda gunmen killed 19 soldiers in an attack on an army base in southern Yemen yesterday, security officials said, a day after deadly assaults by rebels and a jihadist bomber.

The gunmen stormed Al-Mahfad base in Abyan province and remained inside for several hours before military reinforcements came, three security officials told AFP, adding that the soldiers were killed in clashes with the jihadists.

Security analyst Aleksandar Mitreski said the attacks “seem opportunistic”.

The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Islamic State group and other jihadists have flourished in the chaos of the civil war between the government and the Shia Huthi rebels.

The United States considers AQAP the global jihadist network’s most dangerous branch and has waged a long-running drone war against its leaders.

On Thursday, separate attacks by the Huthis and jihadists hit security forces in Yemen’s second city Aden, killing at least 49 people, many of them newly trained police cadets, officials said.

The first attack was a suicide car bombing carried out by jihadists on a police station that killed 13 police officers and wounded several others, a security source said.

The second attack was carried out by the Huthis, who said they launched a drone and a ballistic missile at a training camp west of Aden, that killed 39 people.