ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 18 (UPI) — At least 48 people died and 84 were wounded in a Yemen suicide bombing Sunday claimed by the Islamic State, the second similar attack in one week, officials said.
The morning blast near a military base targeted 10,000 soldiers waiting to collect paychecks outside the house of the commander of the special forces in Aden, according to Abdurrahman Al Naqeeb, a spokesman for the police office.
On Dec. 10, a car bombing outside the base, also claimed by Islamic State, killed more than 50 soldiers who had also lined up to collect payments.
One of Islamic State’s Yemeni affiliates said its bomber used an explosives-lined vest, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
“Some of the soldiers entered to receive their salaries, while others remained outside the fence of the house, and then the suicide bomber attacked the soldiers and detonated his explosive belt,” Aden’s health chief, Abdel Al Wali, told The National. “The number of those killed has exceeded 40 with some 50 others wounded.”
He said the death toll was likely to rise because many of the injured were in critical condition.
Al Naqeeb said the attack occurred despite stringent checks on the soldiers entering the house.
Aden is the de-facto capital of the government of Yemen. The actual capital, Sanaa, has been under the control of Houthi rebels since last year.
Yemen’s minority Houthis, who are Shiite, rebelled against the Sunni-led government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
Last week, Hadi ordered an investigation by his deputy interior minister and promised a payout of about $4,000 each to families of the dead and about $2,000 to each wounded person.
About 10,000 people in Yemen have been killed and 18.8 million are need of aid in a conflict the United Nations calls a “catastrophic humanitarian situation.”
