‘Qaeda’ ambush on Yemeni general kills two soldiers

Aden: Two Yemeni soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded on Monday in an ambush targeting a regional army chief in southeastern Hadramawt province, a military official said, blaming Al Qaeda for the attack.

“Members of Al Qaeda” set an ambush for the convoy of General Abdulrahman Al Hulaili, the head of the First Military Region, the official told AFP.

The assailants detonated explosives planted on the roadside and opened fire as the convoy passed, but Hulaili escaped unscathed, the official said.

The attack comes a day after a similar bombing targeted the commander of the 31st armoured battalion General Farej Al Atiqi in the southern city of Aden.

Atiqi escaped unharmed but his driver was killed and two other bodyguards were wounded.

Members of the security forces in Yemen are often the targets of attacks blamed on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the United States regards as the deadliest branch of the global extremist network.

AQAP has exploited the weakened central authorities in Yemen since the 2012 departure of president Ali Abdullah Saleh following a year-long popular uprising.

The group’s presence is strongest in the south and southeast of the impoverished country, but it has also launched attacks in the capital itself.