Suicide bomber kills 5 Yemen army recruits in Aden

By : AFP

Date: 12 April 2016 9:26am WAT

Yemeni pro-government forces. PHOTO: / AFP PHOTO / NABIL HASSAN

Yemeni pro-government forces, loyal to fugitive President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, gather at the military base of Nehm, in the Sanaa province east of the Yemeni capital, the frontline with the Marib region on April 7, 2016. Pro-government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition battling the Shiite Huthi rebels for more than a year, have retaken most of the eastern Marib province from the Huthi insurgents and their allies. However, the rebels still control northern and western parts of the oil-rich Marib province east of the capital Sanaa, which has been held by the Huthis since September 2014. / AFP PHOTO / NABIL HASSAN — Yemeni pro-government forces, loyal to fugitive President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, gather at the military base of Nehm, in the Sanaa province east of the Yemeni capital, the frontline with the Marib region on April 7, 2016.
Pro-government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition battling the Shiite Huthi rebels for more than a year, have retaken most of the eastern Marib province from the Huthi insurgents and their allies. However, the rebels still control northern and western parts of the oil-rich Marib province east of the capital Sanaa, which has been held by the Huthis since September 2014.
/ AFP PHOTO / NABIL HASSAN

A suicide bomber suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda killed five Yemeni soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt Tuesday among army recruits in Aden, a security official said.

The man mixed in with a group of recruits as they headed to their base in the southern city which serves as a temporary capital for the government, the official said.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shiite rebels in the summer.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.

But after having long ignored them, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against them in the past few weeks, backed by the firepower of a Saudi-led military coalition.