Nine killed in 'Al Qaeda attack' on Yemeni government forces

Four soldiers and five extremists die in car bomb attack at government compound

Smoke rises from the compound in Abyan governorate. Photo: Yemen First Support and Logistics Brigade / Facebook

Al Qaeda staged an attack on Yemen's internationally recognised government on Tuesday, in which nine people from both sides were killed, a commander said.

Yemeni Brig Gen Nasr Atef Al Yafei said the extremists launched a "large-scale terrorist attack" on a government compound in Abyan governorate.

The militants attacked the complex with two car bombs, he said. Yemeni government forces managed to detonate the first bomb near the main gate, while other Al Qaeda members tried to storm into the building.

The Yemeni forces also killed five suicide bombers wearing explosive belts, the general said. He said the attack left four soldiers dead. A medical source in Abyan confirmed the deaths of the four soldiers to AFP, and reported 15 people wounded.

"The forces ... were able to thwart a large-scale terrorist attack launched by Al Qaeda terrorists this morning," the general said. He added that the forces "fully controlled the situation" following the clashes and were on high alert to protect the area.

Moammar Eryani, the Information Minister of the internationally recognised government, said 14 soldiers were injured in a "cowardly" attack. He claimed extremist groups such as Al Qaeda were working "in co-ordination" with the Iran-backed Houthis, in a "joint subversive project" against the government.

Mohamed Al Sahimi, the representative in the UK of the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC), said its First Support and Reinforcement Brigade had been hit by the attackers. He said Al Qaeda and other terror groups in south and west of Yemen had been boosted by links to the Houthis in the north.

After the Houthi campaign against shipping in the Red Sea attracted US-led retaliation, the Sanaa-based regime had looked to boost support for extremists, including AQAP, as well as Horn of Africa groupings like Al Shabaab.

Yemen's Houthi fighters have forced the internationally recognised government to operate from a temporary base in Aden. EPA

Mr Sahimi appealed for enhanced backing of his grouping's work to stop the re-emergence of the terror threat from Al Qaeda. "We are the only partner that's currently fighting terrorism in Yemen," he said. "We have our STC forces are on the ground and we're leading in counter-terrorism operations. There has to be greater co-ordination and international support for our efforts as the only partner fighting terrorism."

The STC has long-standing secessionist ambitions while still being part of Yemen's eight-member Presidential Council which operates from Aden. The STC holds three of the eight seats on the internationally recognised governing body.

Yemen's internationally recognised government established itself in the southern city of Aden after Iran-backed Houthi rebels drove them out of the capital Sanaa in 2014.

Mr Sahimi said his movement had made representations to the UK government, which has a leading role on Yemen at the UN Security Council as the member responsible for proposed resolutions, on how the Houthis were increasing attacks and turning to extremists as allies.

"We have raised the issues with the UK and with others of the rising threat of the Houthis and the threat of terrorism and the coordination between the two," he said. "This is something that's really, really serious and we are trying to defeat it.

"If we don't have any support, it's just going to grow and will become more a threat, not just to Yemen but to the whole region."

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in 2009 from a merging of Al Qaeda's Yemeni and Saudi factions. The US once regarded the group as the extremist network's most dangerous branch.

AQAP grew in the chaos of Yemen's war, but attacks by the group, against government forces and rebels, have decreased in recent years.