A suicide bomber killed 12 Yemeni soldiers at a military post in the southern province of Abyan on Friday morning, according to local authorities. The attacker drove a booby-trapped car into a security forces site in the Mudiyah district, said Mohamed al-Naqib, a spokesperson for the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though it bears the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has increased attacks on military facilities in Yemen in recent months. AQAP has exploited the ongoing nine-year conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and a Saudi-backed coalition to strengthen its influence in the region.
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The STC, an ally of the Saudi coalition, controls significant portions of southern Yemen and has intensified offensives against Al Qaeda elements in Abyan over the past year. Despite years of attempted crackdowns by the US military, the Saudi coalition, and the Houthis, AQAP continues to operate, benefiting from Yemen’s instability, tribal support, and vast ungoverned territories.
