At least six soldiers have been killed as suicide bombers detonated two vehicles laden with explosives at two military outposts outside the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar on Sunday, local officials and residents said. They said one vehicle targeted on Sunday a military position held by coastal guards at the western entrance of the city; the second vehicle struck an artillery position at the southern entrance of Zinjibar. The bombers - believed to belong to a group linked to al-Qaeda called Ansar al-Sharia which controls Zinjibar – also launched a raid on both positions after the bombings, taking a number of soldiers prisoner, as reported to Alarabiya, Local officials said. Al-Qaeda linked groups have exploited political upheaval to strengthen their foothold in Yemen, particularly in the south which is also home to rising secessionist sentiment. The attacks in Zinjibar came a day after two suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into a Yemeni army base in the southern province of al Bayda, killing one soldier, the defence ministry said. Earlier in the week Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a presidential palace in Hadramawt province, in the southeast, that killed 26 Republican Guard soldiers last week. That attack occurred as Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the first new president in Sanaa since 1978, took the oath of office as Saleh's successor. AQAP said that the bombing of the palace in Hadramawt's provincial capital, Mukalla, was "a clear message to the US ambassador" after alleged remarks he made "about restructuring the Yemeni army". "This is a message to say that the US project in Yemen will not succeed and that our operations will target this project and its tools wherever they may be," AQAP said.
