Police in Yemen yesterday said a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car outside a police station in the south, killing eight police officers and wounding 17.
The officials said the attack happened in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt Province.
They said the suicide bomber drove his car very close to the police station and argued with officers before the blast.
The officials said the bomber, believed to be an al-Qaeda militant, tried to prolong his argument to draw more police officers to him to kill as many as possible.
The blast collapsed part of the building where other police officers were having lunch.
In other developments, government forces killed seven alleged al-Qaeda militants in fighting on Saturday, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense said.
The seven militants were killed in clashes while Yemeni forces were combing the southern cities of Shabwa and Abyan, where the fighting has been centered.
Also on Saturday, Shabwa Governor Ahmed Ali Bahag said al-Qaeda militants kidnapped five civilians from local tribes that they were formerly allied with in retaliation for cooperating with the Yemeni army.
The governor asked for the help of the Red Cross in finding the abducted citizens and in relieving the refugees who have fled their homes in the city of Meyfaa, amid the ongoing clashes.
He said Yemeni authorities are now repairing infrastructure and buildings damaged in the fight.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Minister of Defense Mohammed Nasser Ahmed escaped an assassination attempt on Friday as he was on his way to check up on security forces in the city of Mahfad, a sprawling al-Qaeda base recaptured by the army.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia