A suspected al-Qaeda suicide bomber yesterday killed 12 soldiers and a civilian in an attack on a military base in southeast Yemen, officials said, as government forces pursued jihadists in three restive provinces.
The bombing came just hours after three gunmen were killed when they attacked a checkpoint close to the presidential palace in the capital Sanaa, the same post where five soldiers died on Friday in a similar attack.
The two attacks appeared to be in reprisal for an army offensive against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the contiguous provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, in the south, and Baida in the centre, which has been underway since April 29.