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  ISIS bomber kills 71 Army recruits in Yemen

ISIS bomber kills 71 Army recruits in Yemen

AFP
Published : Aug 30, 2016, 1:32 am IST
Updated : Aug 30, 2016, 1:32 am IST

An Islamic State group militant rammed his explosives-laden car into an army recruitment centre in Aden on Monday, killing 71 people in the deadliest jihadist attack to hit the city in over a year.

Yemenis, including soldiers, inspect the attack site in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Photo: AFP)
 Yemenis, including soldiers, inspect the attack site in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Photo: AFP)

An Islamic State group militant rammed his explosives-laden car into an army recruitment centre in Aden on Monday, killing 71 people in the deadliest jihadist attack to hit the city in over a year.

Yemen’s Army, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, is training young recruits to join its nationwide war against Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies, as well as Sunni jihadists.

Aden is the temporary base of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which was forced into exile after Iran-backed insurgents seized Sanaa and other parts of the war-torn country.

Security officials said the attacker drove a car bomb into a gathering of army recruits at a school in northern Aden early on Monday.

Although the school was locked as recruits were registered inside, the attacker drove in when the gate was opened for a delivery vehicle, officials said. Witnesses said some recruits were buried when a roof collapsed over them following the blast, which also damaged buildings close to the recruitment centre.

The assault killed at least 71 people and wounded about 98 others, medical sources from the three hospitals where the victims were taken said.

They could not immediately verify if all those killed were army recruits.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Twitter that their hospital in Aden “received 45 dead and at least 60 wounded” from the explosion.

Aden has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.

Attacks in the port city are often claimed by jihadists from either Al-Qaeda or ISIS, who have both taken advantage of the chaos in Yemen to make gains in southern and southeastern regions.

IS claimed Monday’s bombing on its official propaganda outlet, Amaq, saying the blast killed around 71 people.

Earlier this month, a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a large group of Army reinforcements sent from Aden to fight jihadists in neighbouring Lahj, killing five soldiers, according to military officials.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year and helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces since July 2015.

The war in Yemen has also impacted security in Saudi Arabia, where shelling from the kingdom’s impoverished neighbour killed three Saudi children and wounded nine other people on Sunday. Cross-border attacks from Yemen have intensified since the suspension of the UN-brokered peace talks between the rebels and the Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

The Arab coalition has also stepped up its airraids in Yemen since peace talks collapsed. Over 6,600 people hvae been killed in Yemen since 2015 and over 80 per cent are left in need of humanitarian aid.

Location: Yemen, Aden