Sanaa: Two al-Qaida suicide car bombers attacked a military base, killing at least six soldiers and wounding 30 others in the eastern valley of Sir in Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt, Yemeni officials said.
Today’s blast, the officials said, severely damaged several buildings at the government-controlled base.
Meanwhile, ground fighting between the Shiite Houthi rebels and government-allied militias in Yemen’s third largest city of Taiz raged on, killing at least 19 and wounding 28 from both sides, rebel and militia fighters and medical officials said.
In the port city of Aden, where pro-government troops recently pushed out rebel forces, water and electricity are back in some neighborhoods.
Residents are also cleaning the streets of rubble, the product of the four month-long battle with the Houthis for control of the city.
“Before you couldn’t drive a car on the road from all the rubble,” a security official said. “Some roads now are relatively usable.”
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The battle for Aden has been the epicenter of Yemen’s conflict over the past several weeks. The rebels seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, last September and then began pressing their advance south. Fierce fighting over Aden broke out in March, sparking the Saudi-led airstrikes that have been targeting the rebels to halt their advance.
The fighting in Yemen pits the Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants and loyalists of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is now in Saudi Arabia.