Suicide attack in Yemen's Shabwa injures three soldiers

By Mubarak Mohamed

HADHRAMAUT, Yemen

At least three Yemenis were killed Wednesday in a suicide car-bomb attack that targeted a military vehicle in Yemen’s southeastern Shabwa province, according to a local military official.

The suicide attacker detonated his car bomb near a vehicle belonging to an elite force now operating in Shabwa’s Al-Saeed directorate, an officer linked to the force told Anadolu Agency anonymously due to security concerns.

No party has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which left three Yemeni soldiers injured, the same source said.

According to a local official in Shabwa, the elite force was trained and financed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a leading member of a Saudi-led coalition established in 2015 to fight Yemen’s Shia Houthi group.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, the same official said members of the force had been trained by UAE officers in Yemen’s southern Hadhramaut province.

Impoverished Yemen has remained dogged by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

One year later, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies -- including the UAE -- launched a massive military campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains and shoring up Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, which is currently based in the coastal city of Aden.