Aden, Oct 19: Al-Qaeda militants set off an explosives-laden car inside an army base in southern Yemen at dawn today, killing at least 15 soldiers and wounding 29 others, military officials said.
Eight Qaeda militants were also killed in the attack, military officials said.
The militants drove through several checkpoints before entering the base of the Yemeni army's 115th brigade in Abyan province, where a drone raid killed at least seven Al-Qaeda members the day before, one official told AFP.
“Four members of Al-Qaeda with explosive belts... travelling in a military vehicle managed to pass through several army checkpoints to reach the camp” at Shaqra, 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the Abyan capital Zinjibar, another official said.
“Two soldiers were killed at the entrance of the base by the assailants who then continued their journey to the camp where three of the four occupants got out of their vehicle, while the driver blew himself up,” said the official. In all 15 soldiers were killed and 29 others wounded.
The army killed the three militants who got out of the vehicle, including one who managed to escape briefly, officials said, adding that four other militants who stormed the base following the explosion were also killed.
A military official confirmed that eight militants, including the suicide bomber, were killed, according to Saba state news agency.
The militants used a Yemen army vehicle which was part of equipment extremists seized last year when they overran towns in the province of Abyan before the areas were regained by authorities in an all-out offensive in May.
The attack came 24 hours after rockets fired from a drone near the southern city of Jaar killed at least seven suspected members of the terror network, including a local leader, an official in the restive region said.
Several military sources said the attack was in response to the raid.
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