Suicide bomber kills seven policemen in Yemeni president's hometown: official

ADEN A suicide bomber killed seven police conscripts and wounded 15 others on Sunday when he drove a vehicle laden with explosives into a police compound in the hometown of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the south-eastern Abyan province, a local official said.


No one claimed responsibility for the attack in al-Wadea district. Yemeni security forces were deployed in the town last month as they drove out Islamist al Qaeda militants from the provincial cities of Zinjibar and Jaar.


The official said the suicide bomber managed to get inside the compound using a vehicle similar to those used by the police.


Islamist militants have exploited an 18-month civil war pitting Hadi's Saudi-backed government against Iran-allied Houthis to carve out influence in parts of Yemen, where they have been recruiting new followers and using them to launch attacks on military targets and senior officials.


Apart from Zinjibar and Jaar, Hadi's forces, backed by the Arab coalition, have also driven the militants out from the Hadramout provincial capital, Mukalla, and captured a number of others in the southern port city of Aden.


(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Susan Thomas)

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