Car bomb attack injures 6 security personnel in southern Yemen

ADEN - A car bomb hit a convoy of the newly-recruited Yemeni troops in the southern province of Abyan on Saturday, injuring six security personnel, a government official told Xinhua.

The convoy, which consisted of three cars, was targeted by a parked car bomb in the Mudiyah area of Abyan, the official said on condition of anonymity.

A military vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion, which allegedly aimed to assassinate a high-ranking commander, the official added.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemeni sources blamed militants of the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for being behind the attack.

The AQAP, which mostly operates in Yemen's eastern and southern provinces, has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces in the country.

Washington has carried out several airstrikes against AQAP fighters in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since U.S President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group.

The US expanded operations in Yemen included intensified overnight airstrikes and ground military raids against the al-Qaida hideouts in the mountainous areas of al-Bayda and southeastern province of Shabwa.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, seen by the United States as the global terror network's most dangerous branch, has exploited years of a deadly conflict between the government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in southeastern provinces.