At least six Yemeni soldiers died from a bomb suspected to be planted by Al Qaeda on Friday, Desert News reported.
The incident took place at the army headquarters in Lawder, a town in Abyan province. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a car outside of the military complex as soldiers were gathering for a morning assembly, according to a Yemeni official.
The official spoke on anonymity due to regulations.
In addition to at least six deaths, the blast also injured nearly 10 soldiers -- including a brigade commander who was flown to the hospital in a military helicopter.
SABA News Agency, a Yemeni media outlet, reported Al Qaeda militants stormed security checkpoints on Thursday night in Bayda province, killing one soldier and wounding two.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Various numbers of deaths and injured soldiers have been issued from international media outlets. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported that twelve soldiers were killed and thirty were injured from the bombing and PressTV said at least eight soldiers were killed and "dozens more" were wounded.
"At least eight security soldiers were killed in the militants' surprise attack and more than 20 others were injured," Xinhua reported from a provincial security official, on condition of anonymity.
He added "reinforcements including tanks were dispatched to the central security camp in the eastern outskirts of al-Bayda's provincial capital. The attack came simultaneously with a string of other militant raids on a security checkpoint in the neighboring district of al-Zahir and a military checkpoint of Brigade 26 Mika in the neighboring town of Radda, where at least another six soldiers were wounded."
