Following days of violence and fears that southern militants would bring more unrest by reneging their commitment to peace, officials have revealed that al-Qaeda targeted a security headquarters in Aden this Tuesday.
According to police reports a “suicide car bombing at the security headquarters in Yemen's southern city of Aden killed at least three soldiers Tuesday in what appeared to be an Al-Qaeda attack.”
The explosive-laden vehicle rammed into one of Aden many checkpoints at dawn, when security is at its lightest, killing three soldiers and wounding an estimated seven. In one report, sources have claimed that another vehicle, also piled up with explosives attempted to punch through the checkpoint right on the heel of the first bombing. The authorities were however able to apprehend the two men before they could carry out their strike.
The alleged militants have been taken under custody where they will be interrogated and duly processed by the security forces.
While al-Qaeda has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, security officials have pointed out that the strike does bear the hallmarks of the terror group, raising some serious question marks as to the group’s plans for Aden.
Again al-Qaeda is trying to play political instability to its advantage by utilizing southerners’ resentment toward Sana’a central government and unrest to wedge itself within the fabric of society.
Should al-Qaeda ever manage to somewhat correlate its agenda with that of die-hard secessionists, Yemen AQAP would turn into much more than a terror group and become a movement altogether.