Insurgent bomb attacks have struck a military camp in the south of Yemen, killing at least 20 people, report security officials. In a separate attack, around 10 soldiers were killed when gunman stormed military headquarters in the town of Mayfaa.
Sources told Reuters that 20 people were killed when two car
bombs exploded in a military camp in Nashama in the province of
Shabwa on Friday morning. One suicide bomber detonated his
explosives-laden vehicle among a group of soldiers as he
attempted to enter the camp, while the other was already in the
camp.
In a separate incident in the same province, gunmen attacked a military headquarters in the town of Mayfaa. The men then stole the security forces’ vehicles and fled the scene.
Major Raed Mohammed Nasser told AP that heavy clashes were
currently being fought out near a military encampment in the
al-Ain area. Moreover, both Al Arabiya and AFP reported the death
toll as over 50, citing their own sources.
The troubled Shabwa Province regularly sees clashes between extremist Islamist fighters and Yemeni security forces. The South of Yemen was compromised in 2011 when Islamist insurgents took advantage of the political chaos sparked by the Arab Spring to take control of towns and villages in the area.