Yemen suicide bombing kills 42

5 Aug 2012, 6:07 pm   -   Source: AAP
In a separate incident, a suspected US drone strike killed five al-Qaeda members late on Saturday, a local official said.

In a separate incident, a suspected US drone strike killed five al-Qaeda members late on Saturday, a local official said.

A suicide bomber has struck a village in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, killing 42 people and wounding 37.

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A suicide bombing Yemeni authorities blamed on al-Qaeda has killed 42 people in a southern town recently recaptured by the army from the jihadists, hospital and local government sources say.

In the east of the country, meanwhile, a suspected US drone strike late on Saturday killed five al-Qaeda militants, a local official said on Sunday.

The bomber struck on Saturday in Jaar, one of a string of towns in Abyan province that were retaken by government troops in June after being held by al-Qaeda loyalists for more than a year.

"An al-Qaeda suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt during a mourning ceremony organised by the Popular Resistance Committees," a local militia that fought alongside the army in its month-long counteroffensive, said provincial governor Jamal al-Aqal.

An official at the Razi hospital in Jaar said it had received the bodies of 24 of the dead, while medics said 12 people died of their wounds in three hospitals in the main southern city of Aden.

The 37 wounded were being treated in hospitals in Jaar and Aden.

The deputy head of the municipal authority in Jaar held the government partially responsible for the attack because of its slowness in deploying police to the town after its recapture by the army.

"There is no presence of police in Jaar and other towns of Abyan, while al-Qaeda militants remain underground," said Nasser Abdullah Mansari.

On Wednesday, an attack by al-Qaeda militants on a police station in Jaar killed four soldiers and a civilian. Residents have expressed fears the jihadists could retake the town.

The suspected US drone strike came near the village of al-Qotn in Hadramawt province in the east of Yemen, another region where al-Qaeda has been active.

"A drone fired two missiles at an all-terrain vehicle ... killing its five occupants, all members of al-Qaeda," a local official, requesting anonymity, said.

The US is the only country that has drones in the region and in recent months has stepped up its strikes on al-Qaeda targets in the south and east of Yemen.

Washington regards the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the most effective branch of the global jihadist network.

Al-Qaeda loyalists have carried out a spate of deadly attacks against the Yemeni security forces and their militia allies since President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi came to power earlier this year pledging to crush the militants.

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