Suicide bombing kills 60 at Yemen army camp

Aden, Aug 29 (AFP) A suicide car bomb attack on an armytraining camp in Yemen’s second city of Aden killed at least60 people today, medical sources said. A security official said the attacker drove his vehicleinto a gathering of new recruits at the camp in northern Aden. The assault killed 60 people and wounded 29 others,medical sources from the three hospitals where the victimswere taken told AFP. Security officials had provided an earlier toll of 11dead. The port city, the temporary base of Yemen’s Gulf-backedgovernment, has seen a wave of bombings and shootingstargeting officials and security forces. Attacks in Aden are often claimed by jihadists from eitherAl-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which have both takenadvantage of the chaos in Yemen to make gains in southern andsoutheastern regions. But no group claimed immediateresponsibility for today’s attack. Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers inAden over the past two months to as part of operations toretake neighbouring southern provinces from jihadists. Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces backed by aSaudi-led coalition entered Abyan’s provincial capitalZinjibar. Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been metby fierce resistance in key Al-Qaeda stronghold, Al-Mahfid, atown which lies further east, security sources said. The militants are still present in areas surrounding therecaptured towns and control large parts of the neighbouringShabwa province, the sources say. The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni governmentagainst Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops withair cover throughout their war against the jihadists. The coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year andhas helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden andfour other southern provinces. But authorities have beenstruggling to secure these provinces. More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killedin Yemen since March 2015 and more than 80 percent of thepopulation has been left in need of humanitarian aid,according to the UN. (AFP)CPS