Al-Qaeda’s Deadly Attack on Army Base in Yemen

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 militant bomber.

The gunmen stormed Al Mahfad base in Abyan province and remained inside for several hours before military reinforcements came, three security officials said, adding that the soldiers were killed in clashes with the militants.

“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.

Aden is controlled by the Yemeni government and its supporters in a Saudi-led military coalition, which has been fighting the rebels since 2015.

The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Daesh and other groups have flourished in the chaos of the civil war between the government and the Houthis.