The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Yemen and Iraq Monday, killing more than 70 people. The bomber drove into a crowd of recruits and broad the roof down on a large number of them.
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Once there, they would have been prepared to fight Shiite Houthi rebels in the north, near the border with Saudi Arabia.
No group has claimed that attack. It is clear, however, that both factions retain the capacity to conduct such attacks.
The targeted army recruits joining a pro-government force that will be moved toward the Saudi border, the source said on condition of anonymity.
A spokesperson for the group said at least 60 other wounded people had been brought into a hospital run by the charity in Aden.
Aden has been used as the de facto capital of Hadi’s Saudi-backed government.
Hadi’s supporters, who accuse former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of using Islamist militants to target the internationally-recognized president, have launched a series of raids in recent weeks to try to stem the violence, seizing dozens of people suspected of involvement in attacks across the city.
Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in a key al-Qaeda stronghold, Al-Mahfid, a town which lies further east, security sources said.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March past year and helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces since July 2015.
The United States has also carried out numerous drone strikes against Al Qaeda in operatives in Yemen.
One of the recruits killed was 27-year-old Mohammed Nasser, whose mother said he hadn’t been able to find a job since graduating from the Aden University four years ago.
Since the fighting intensified in March 2015, missile and rocket attacks across Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, which is leading a US -backed coalition against the Houthis, have been common. Some 3 million people have been displaced inside the country, the Arab world’s poorest.
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On Tuesday, Saudi aerial attacks hit a civilian vehicle in the Razih district in the northwestern province of Saada, leaving three people dead and one injured. This month’s collapse of negotiations on the Yemen conflict has also impacted security in Saudi Arabia.
