SANA’A, YEMEN (1:30 A.M.) – Unidentified militants carried out a suicide terrorist attack on “Elite forces” camp in southeastern Yemen early in the morning on Monday, killing at least 10 militiamen and 2 servicemen of UAE-backed Yemeni military units.
The attack took place near the town of Bedha, in the oil-producing province of Hadramout, and came after a lull in attacks by Islamist militants.
Local sources said the attackers detonated two car bombs outside the camp, while residents said they also heard gunfire after two major explosions.
Anonymous military source told local news outlets that “Our soldiers foiled the attack and managed to secure the camp and we are still chasing the attackers in nearby farms.”
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion mainly falls on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) whose jihadists are quite active in southern provinces of Yemen.
This comes after The Daily Beast website published an investigation accusing “uniformed fighters” belonging to a militia called the “Elite Forces”, which is controlled by the UAE, of abducting people from their homes and bringing them to a secret prison compound in southern Yemen, where the prisoners are allegedly tortured.
UPDATE: AQAP has claimed the responsibility for the attack saying “several ‘elite’ troops were killed, a few vehicles destroyed and one jihadist died conducting the attack”.
