ADEN — A car bomb exploded on Monday at a security checkpoint in Yemen’s Dhale, a city on the road to the port city of Aden.
A second explosion rocked the port city of Mukalla, witnesses said.
The blast in Mukalla came when a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at a military checkpoint at the western entrance of the city, they said.
Yemeni security officials said the two car bombs targeting security checkpoints killed at least nine soldiers.
The first attack on Monday was carried out by a suicide car bomber who rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint, killing at least nine soldiers. The officials had no immediate details about the second attack.
Al-Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate ruled Mukalla for a year until the militants withdrew in April. The city has seen a number of suicide attacks in recent weeks, most carried out by a Daesh affiliate.
The bladts were the latest in a series of bombings since forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi drove out Al-Qaeda militants there in April.
Security sources said one of the attacks hit the Al-Burum area southwest of the city, while another struck the Al-Ghaber district to the west.
At least 15 people were wounded in the blasts, five of them seriously, medics added.
On Saturday, three Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in a drone strike in Yemen’s south, security officials said.
The raid struck a vehicle carrying the suspected militants in Shabwa province killing all those on board, the officials said.
The United States is the only country known to be operating drones in Yemen and has vowed no let-up in its war against terrorists there.
Al-Qaeda claimed a suicide car bombing that struck the convoy of the governor of Yemen’s main southern city Aden on Friday. Aidarus Al-Zubaidi had escaped unharmed after the attack but three of his companions were wounded.
