8 killed in car bomb targeting pro-government military base in Yemen

A booby-trapped car struck a pro-government military base in Yemen's southeastern province of of Shabwa on Monday afternoon, leaving eight soldiers killed, a military official told Xinhua.

The booby-trapped car exploded at the main gate of a pro-government military base in Belhaf area of southeastern Shabwa province, killing at least eight soldiers and injuring several others at the scene, the military source said on condition of anonymity.

Another military source based in Shabwa told Xinhua by phone saying that a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives inside the pro-government military base located in Belhaf area.

The two Yemeni military sources said many newly-recruited pro-government soldiers were injured in the latest car bomb attack in the impoverished Arab country.

The latest attack comes after five soldiers were killed on Sunday when unknown gunmen launched an attack on an army checkpoint in Shabwa province.

However, the al-Qaida terrorist group which frequently launches attacks in Shabwa and other provinces controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, has not claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in Shabwa and Abyan provinces.

Yemen's government, allied with a Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for years been battling Shiite Houthi rebels for control of the impoverished country.

Statistics showed that more than 8,000 people have been killed in Yemen's conflict, most of them civilians, since the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015.

The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera outbreak and is on the edge of famine.

source: xinhua