DUBAI: Al Qaeda militants attacked a military camp in southern Yemen yesterday, killing at least 19 soldiers, security sources said.
The attack is the second in as many days on a camp for the Yemeni Security Belt forces backed by the UAE, a member of the Arab coalition battling Houthi rebels who control swathes of the country.
The Al Qaeda militants briefly took control of the camp in the village of Al Mahfad in southern Abyan governorate before it was retaken hours later by Yemeni forces, the sources said.
On Thursday a car bomb exploded in a military camp for the Security Belt forces in the southern port city of Aden, killing 13 policemen.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement reported by the group’s news agency Amaaq yesterday.
IS said the attack killed and wounded tens of policemen, among them the head of the police station. The Interior ministry statement said only 13 had died.
Meanwhile, the UAE is redeploying its forces in Hodeidah with the agreement of Saudi Arabia, its Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said yesterday.
The redeployment is the outcome of extensive dialogue with the Arab coalition, and the country has agreed on a strategy for the next phase in Yemen with Saudi, Gargash said. He added that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are determined to avoid confrontation with Iran.
“Doha is fishing in muddy waters by exaggerating the extent of a routine meeting between the UAE and Iran,” he pointed out.