Yemen Crisis: Twin suicide bombings kills 25 soldiers in Aden

At least 25 Yemeni soldiers have been killed and dozens wounded in a double car bomb attack at a military base in the southern city of Aden. Yemen

The attack in Aden left eight others injured, according to three local security officials. It targeted a checkpoint outside the Al Solban military base.

The attackers detonated a car bomb near the entrance of the army base in the Khormaksar district adjoining Aden international airport, military sources said on Wednesday.The first explosion allowed the second vehicle to drive inside where it also blew up.

a group of militants raided the base, leading to hours of clashes from within the facility. Dozens of rocket-propelled grenade rockets were launched at the base.

The attackers were dressed as government soldiers, allowing them to seize control of a military building inside the base, officials said.

“Majority of the government troops were not inside the base at the time of the attack and were celebrating the Muslim Eid holiday with their families,” a senior Aden security official said.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack on the messaging app Telegram, according to the militant monitoring SITE Intelligence group, calling the attack revenge for government attacks elsewhere in southern Yemen.

Terror attacks in Yemen

Black smoke covered the skies nearby as the clashes continued. The local government in Aden announced the closure of Aden International Airport after the attacks near the airport.

The attack comes after a series of suicide bombings in Aden since government forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition liberated the city from the Houthi militias last July.

Militants have killed at least 140 security and military officials over the past seven months. The governor of Aden was also assassinated last December.

Last week, four suicide car bombings in Yemen killed at least 42 people, including 35 soldiers and a child.

The attacks targeted security positions in Mukalla, a southeastern port city in Hadramout province. At least 30 others were injured, all security officers except for five civilians, according to two officials in the provincial governor’s office.

Who are worse, Houthis or the extremists ?

Both ISIL and al-Qaeda have expanded operations during Yemen’s civil war, and have claimed responsibility for several bombings and suicide attacks in Mukalla and the southern port city of Aden.

However, in April, Yemeni army forces, backed by Saudi-led coalition warplanes, recaptured al-Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadhramaut province, from al-Qaeda group.

There has been mounting international pressure to end the war on Yemen, which the UN estimates has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced more than 2.8 million.

Yemen has suffered violence and chaos since September 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran capital Sanaa and several other provinces, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

In recent months, al-Qaeda has exploited the ongoing conflict between the central government and the Shia Houthi group to bolster its influence in the country’s south.