ADEN – Two suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in separate attacks targeting pro-government tribesmen in Yemen yesterday, local officials and tribal sources said.
Tribesmen have sided with the army in an effort to flush Islamist militants out of the south, where the government’s grip has been loosened during months of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule. The government has said the militants are from the Yemeni wing of al-Qaeda, but analysts say other local Islamist groups may be at work.
The first bomber approached a group of people in the town of Mudiyah and greeted them before setting off the explosives that killed him and three others. The second attack took place 35km away in the al-Arqub area. The bomber drove up to a tribal checkpoint and blew himself up, killing nine tribesmen.
