Suicide Bomber Claims 16 Lives in Yemen's Abyan Province

A suicide bomber killed 16 Yemeni soldiers and wounded 18 others in Abyan province. The attacker drove a booby-trapped car into a military post. No group has claimed responsibility, but AQAP is suspected. AQAP has exploited Yemen's conflict to bolster its presence despite crackdowns.

A suicide bomber killed 16 Yemeni soldiers and wounded 18 other troops in a military post in the southern province of Abyan on Friday morning, authorities reported.

The attacker "drove a booby-trapped car into a site for the security forces" in the Mudiyah district, according to Mohamed al-Naqib, spokesperson for the Southern Transitional Council. Although no group has claimed responsibility, militants linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are suspected, given recent escalations in military facility attacks.

Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch has been exploiting a nine-year conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and a Saudi-backed coalition to expand its influence. The Southern Transitional Council, in alliance with the Saudi coalition, has intensified offensives against AQAP in Abyan, a region it aims to secede. AQAP has withstood multiple crackdowns by Yemen's warring factions and continues to leverage the nation's turmoil.

(With inputs from agencies.)