Two suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into a Yemeni army base in the southern province of al-Bayda on Saturday, killing one soldier, the Defence Ministry said, in an attack for which al Qaeda claimed responsibility. Another soldier was killed by one of two blasts aimed at a central security forces building in the southern coastal town of Mukalla, where a suicide bombing a week ago killed at least 26 people. Authorities said they had made several arrests.
Militants linked to al Qaeda have exploited political upheaval to strengthen their foothold in Yemen, particularly in the south which is also home to rising secessionist sentiment. Saturday's attack in al-Bayda, which targeted barracks of the Republican Guard forces, came just days after the interior ministry said it had information about an al Qaeda plot to blow up eight cars in the capital Sanaa and the port city of Aden.
"The explosion was very loud and took place in Dar al-Nasr, which is a military site of the Republican Guard," said an opposition website. "Residents of the town were frightened by the force of the blast, which was felt more than two kilometres away and damaged dozens of neighbouring houses and blew their windows out."
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