Toll rises to 65 after suicide bombing in Yemen
ADEN: The death toll of a suicide bombing that targeted an army recruiting compound in Aden yesterday morning rose to 65 killed and 55 injured, according to Yemeni officials.
A source at Aden’s police command confirmed that dozens of injured army recruits were in a critical condition.
They were taken to a nearby hospital.
An Aden-based source said a suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into a gathering of army recruits near a school in Aden’s Mansourah neighbourhood.
The source said the explosion took place at the school courtyard where hundreds of army recruits gathered.
The targeted army recruits were joining a pro-government force that will be moved toward the Saudi border, according to the source.
Directors of two public hospitals in Aden, where dozens of bodies were transferred, said earlier that the death toll stood at 28 and that more than 30 others were injured.
High-ranking pro-government officials at the weekend confirmed they are planning to recruit and train more than 5000 young fighters from the government-controlled southern provinces in order to join the fighting with the Saudi Border Guard Forces against Houthi rebels.
Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaeda insurgencies in the Middle East.
The group Ansar al-Sharia emerged in January 2009.
It has claimed responsibility for attacks on Yemen’s army and government institutions.
In March last year, war broke out between the Shia Houthi group, which is supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh.
They are waging war against the government backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition. – Xinhua