On 15 May 2016, a suicide bombing in the southern

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i port city of

Mukalla Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east o ...

, the capital of the

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...

province, killed at least 47 police and injured over 60. The bombing was preceded by an attack, where 15 Yemeni troops were killed in attacks on army positions outside Mukalla. ISIL said, one of its militants blew up a vehicle, packed with explosives, in an army base in the Khalf district at the city's eastern outskirts.

Background

The U.S. military announced, a week before the attacks, it had deployed a small number of personnel to

, to aid the fight against AQAP, its first troop presence in the country since the

Houthi The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

takeover. A year of al-Qaeda rule also ended a month before the attacks. ISIL rarely intervenes in the area, the bombings took place, as it is known to be a stronghold of its al-Qaeda rivals. One day before, troops guarding an army post, in the Khalf district of Mukalla, opened fire at a vehicle, after they suspected its driver of being a suicide bomber, a security official said, adding, that the vehicle sped away. A general boasted, that his forces had captured around 250 al-Qaeda members, since they retook Mukalla and nearby coastal towns, including its commander for the city of

Shihr Ash-Shihr ( ar, ٱلشِّحْر, al-Shiḥr), also known as al-Shir or simply Shihr, is a coastal town in Hadhramaut, eastern Yemen. Ash-Shihr is a walled town located on a sandy beach. There is an anchorage but no docks; boats are used. The mai ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

have also gotten involved in the conflict. ISIL had claimed responsibility for several attacks on government and coalition targets in Aden in the recent months.

Bombing

The first bomber, Abu al-Bara al-Ansari, detonated an explosives belt, as he joined a line of men at a police recruiting centre. The bomb exploded as

's security chief, general Mubarak al-Oubthani, walked out of his office, killing six of his guards, but leaving him with only minor injuries. The attacks included a suicide bombing, that targeted the residence of the commander of

's second military region, general Faraj Salmeen, but he escaped unharmed. The suicide bomber killed at least 41 police recruits and 47 police in total. The bomber also injured over 60 people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yemen Police bombings 2016 murders in Yemen Suicide bombings in 2016 ISIL terrorist incidents in Yemen Mass murder in 2016 21st-century mass murder in Yemen Suicide bombings in Yemen Terrorist incidents in Yemen in 2016 Military operations of the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) May 2016 crimes in Asia Islamic terrorist incidents in 2016 2016 building bombings Mukalla Attacks on police stations in the 2010s Building bombings in Yemen Hadhramaut Governorate in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Attacks on police stations in Asia

Background

Bombing

See also

References