Qaeda attack kills 19 soldiers in Yemen

ADEN: Al-Qaeda gunmen killed 19 soldiers in an attack on an army base in southern Yemen on Friday, 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.

“The Qaeda gunmen took advantage of what happened on Thursday in Aden and launched an assault on Al-Mahfad base and clashed with soldiers,” a government security official said. “Military reinforcements were sent... and the gunmen were killed while others were driven out with air support from the Saudi-led coalition, in an operation that lasted hours,” the official said. “At least 19 soldiers were killed and others wounded.”

The other two officials confirmed both the details and the death toll. Security analyst Aleksandar Mitreski said the attacks “seem opportunistic”. “Al-Qaeda has neither the capability nor the strategic appetite to open a new front in south Yemen,” Matreski who is also a researcher at the University of Sydney told AFP. “We may see other sporadic attacks in the future motivated by al-Qaeda’s desire to remain a relevant actor in the Yemeni conflict.”

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 Huthi rebels.