Suspected al Qaeda attacks on Yemeni forces kill around 40

       
Suspected al Qaeda militants killed about 40 Yemeni soldiers and policemen in two attacks in the south of the country on Friday, their deadliest for more than a year, security officials said.           
Around 30 soldiers died when two car bombs exploded at a military camp in al-Nashama, near the coast, and about 10 police were killed by gunmen in the inland town of Mayfaa.             

Officials believe members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were behind both attacks, the security sources said. AQAP is seen by Western countries as one of the most dangerous branches of al Qaeda because it has attempted to carry out bombings on international airlines.           

U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of AQAP members and the Yemeni army has seized back large tracts of territory from the insurgents, prompting the country's foreign minister to call Friday's attacks a sign of increasing desperation.             

"This attack was intended to demonstrate that they are still there. But it's also a demonstration that they are losing the war against the security and stability of Yemen," the minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, told Reuters.            

Ali al-Sarary, an aide to Yemen's prime minister, said the attacks were aimed at thwarting the reconciliation efforts of a "national dialogue" set up between rival factions after a political uprising in 2011.              

"The main goal is to foil a political settlement and prevent the national dialogue from reaching solutions on a number of issues, particularly issues in the south," he said.  
          
Maintaining stability in impoverished Yemen is a priority for Washington and Gulf states because of its location next to major oil shipping routes and Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.             


REUTERS