IS bomb attacks in Yemen leave 37 police dead
Print Edition
A SUICIDE bombing claimed by the Islamic State group and a second attack killed 37 police yesterday in the Yemeni port of Mukalla where a year of al-Qaida rule ended last month, medics said.
It was the second attack in days claimed by IS in the city of 200,000 people that was recaptured by government forces from the rival jihadists of al-Qaida with United States backing.
The suicide bomber killed at least 31 police recruits on the southwestern outskirts of the city, which is the capital of Hadramawt province, medics said.
The bomber detonated an explosives belt as he joined a line of men at a police recruiting center, an official said.
More than 60 people were wounded in the attack in Fuwah district, a source said.
Hadramawt’s security chief, General Mubarak al-Oubthani, who was at the recruitment center at the time of the attack but was not hurt, was the target of a second bombing when he headed into central Mukalla afterwards, a security official said.
The bomb exploded as Oubthani walked out of his office, killing six of his guards but leaving him with only minor injuries, the official said.
An IS statement posted online claimed the suicide attack, a second rare intervention by the jihadist group in an area known to be a stronghold of its al-Qaida rivals.
“Brother Abu al-Bara al-Ansari ... detonated his explosives belt at a gathering of the apostates of the security forces,” it said.
On Thursday, 15 Yemeni troops were killed in jihadist attacks on army positions outside Mukalla. IS said one of its militants blew up a vehicle packed with explosives in an army base in Khalf district on the city’s eastern outskirts.
The attacks included a suicide bombing that targeted the residence of the commander of Hadramawt’s second military region, General Faraj Salmeen, but he escaped unharmed, officials said.
Yesterday, troops guarding an army post in Khalf opened fire at a vehicle after they suspected its driver of being a suicide bomber, a security official said, adding that the vehicle sped away.
The general boasted on Friday that his forces had captured 250 al-Qaida members since they retook Mukalla and nearby coastal towns. Al-Qaida was driven out of the area last month with the backing of Emirati and Saudi special forces.
The Pentagon revealed last week that a “very small number” of US military personnel had also been deployed around Mukalla in support of the operation. The US Navy has several ships nearby.
The offensive against al-Qaida comes amid a truce and peace talks between the government and Iran-backed rebels it has been fighting with support from a Saudi-led coalition since March last year.
Jihadists of both al-Qaida and IS took advantage of that conflict to expand their presence in Hadramawt and other areas of the south, including second city Aden where the government has its base.
IS has claimed several attacks on government and coalition targets in Aden in recent months.
Washington regards al-Qaida’s Yemen-based branch as its most dangerous and has stepped up a long-standing drone war against it in recent weeks.
But the jihadists retain a strong presence and still control several towns in the interior valley of Wadi Hadramawt.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
