Suicide bombers attack Yemeni military camp

Suicide bombers targeted a Yemeni military camp southeast of the capital Saturday, wounding seven government soldiers, the Ministry of Defense said.

The bombers struck a camp for the Republican Guard, an elite unit of the nation’s army.

Ministry officials accused al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula of being behind the attacks that saw bombers detonate explosives at the front gate of the camp in al-Baitha province, about 170 kilometers (105.6 miles) southeast of Sana’a.

Ali Obaid, a spokesman for the military commission, Yemen’s highest military authority, said the attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

“The Saturday attacks were a direct threat to all the military and security factions in the country,” Obaid said to CNN.

The attack follows a suicide bombing a week earlier that targeted the presidential palace, killing 21 members of the Republican Guard and injuring nine, according to the Ministry of Interior. The attack occurred an hour after Abdu Hadi was sworn in as Yemen’s president.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack, identifying the suicide bomber as Abu Mihjan al-Sayari.

Experts have warned that al Qaeda is seeking to expand its territory by taking advantage of the absence of security forces in a number of rural areas.