Two suicide attacks hit pro-gov't army base in southern Yemen

Some five pro-government soldiers were killed and several others wounded on Tuesday when two suicide car bombs struck an army base in Yemen's southern province of Lahj, a security official told Xinhua.

The terrorist attacks occurred when two suicide bombers detonated their explosive-laden cars near the base in Lahj province, causing huge blast, the Yemeni security source said on condition of anonymity.

The source said five were killed and nearly 15 others got injured who were moved to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Witnesses said that the first suicide bomber attacked the soldiers positioned at the main gate and the second bomber detonated his car inside the army brigade.

The base located few kilometers away from the strategic Anad military air base which hosts counter-terrorism American troops and forces of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

No group has so far claimed the responsibility for the attacks.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009, and had claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.

It took advantage of the current security vacuum amid the ongoing civil war to expand its influence and seize more territories in Yemen's southern part.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when a war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

More than 6,400 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians. Endit