42 killed in suicide attacks by Islamic State in Yemen’s Mukalla

At least 42 people were killed in a wave of IS-claimed suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops in the southeastern city of Mukalla, officials said.

At least 42 people were killed in a wave of IS-claimed suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops in the southeastern city of Mukalla, officials said.

The attacks in Yemen’s Mukalla killed 40 soldiers as well as a woman and child who were passing by and wounded 37 other people. (Reuters file photo)

The capital of Hadramawt province, Mukalla had been under the control of al Qaeda for one year until pro-government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city in April.

But Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Monday, saying in a statement that eight of its suicide bombers killed 50 members of Yemen’s security forces, according to US-based monitor SITE Intelligence Group.

The governor of the vast province, Ahmed Saeed bin Breyk, told AFP previously that Mukalla had “witnessed five suicide attacks in four areas”.

Three simultaneous bombings hit security checkpoints in the coastal city at sunset, just as troops fasting during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan were breaking their fast, a security official said.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorbike asked soldiers if he could eat with them before blowing himself up, the official said.

Two other bombers approached soldiers on foot elsewhere in the city before detonating their explosives.

In all, the attacks killed 40 soldiers as well as a woman and child who were passing by and wounded 37 other people, said Hadramawt’s health chief Riad al-Jalili.

Al Qaeda retains a strong presence in Mukalla, and the jihadists still control several towns in the interior valley of Wadi Hadramawt.

Last month, the Pentagon said a “very small number” of US military personnel had been deployed around Mukalla in support of pro-government forces.

The US Navy has several ships nearby, including an amphibious assault vessel, the USS Boxer, and two destroyers.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has been based in Yemen since 2009.

Both it and the IS group have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict in the impoverished country to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

In May, a suicide bombing claimed by IS and a second blast killed 47 police in Mukalla -- a city of 200,000 people.