Two soldiers and 10 militants were killed on Sunday in attempted car bomb attacks on army posts and subsequent clashes in Yemen’s southern province Abyan.
A Yemeni military official said that dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants took part in simultaneous attacks on three army posts in the Mahfad area of Abyan.
Two car bombs exploded before reaching their targets, while a third went off at the gate of a base, he said.
“The soldiers’ alertness foiled the militants’ attempt to seize the military posts,” the official reportedly said.
He said two soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, while seven of the assailants died in gunfights in addition to the three suicide bombers.
In late April, the Yemeni army launched a ground offensive against al Qaeda in Abyan and nearby Shabwa province.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is active across several parts of Yemen, taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Washington considers AQAP the most dangerous affiliate of the militant network because of its role in failed attacks against the United States.
