Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula launched yet another suicide assault on a military base in southern Yemen. The target of today’s attack was a military base in the province of Abyan, which was under AQAP control from May 2011 to May 2012. From Al Jazeera:
The official said the bomber drove a car laden with explosives and blew himself up on Friday at the gate of the army camp in Ahwar, an area in the southern province of Abyan.
Other fighters attacked soldiers in the camp with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), the source said, adding that 15 soldiers were wounded in the clashes.
The military official gave no detail on any casualties among the attackers, but said the fighting was still going on.
A Yemeni official told The Associated Press that a brigade commander was among those wounded in the attack.
Meanwhile, in Al Baydah province in central Yemen, AQAP fighters attacked military and police bases in the provincial capital. A Yemeni official claimed troops repelled the attacks and “inflicted big loses on them [AQAP].” But the number of AQAP fighters killed was not disclosed. From SABA:
A military official source at the Seventh Military Region has stated that terrorist groups of the terrorist al-Qaeda group has tried to raid some military and police checkpoints around the Baydah city, the capital of Al Baydah province.
The source told Saba that the army an police troops positioned at those checkpoints repelled those terrorist elements and inflicted big loses on them and foiled their criminal plans.
Today’s attacks in Abyan and Al Baydah took place just two days after AQAP released a video detailing the Sept. 20 suicide assaults in Shabwa province. AQAP followed up the Sept. 20 assaults in Shabwa with a raid on military headquarters in Mukallah in Hadramout on Sept. 30. The base was controlled by the AQAP fighters for days before the military retook control.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
