A wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 35 people Monday in the southeastern city of Mukalla, from which Al-Qaeda was driven out of in April, officials said.
Provincial capital “Mukalla witnessed five suicide attacks in four areas,” Ahmed Saeed bin Breyk, governor of the vast Hadramawt province, said.
Three simultaneous bombings hit security checkpoints in the coastal city at sunset, just as fasting troops were breaking their fast, a security official said.
In the first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorbike asked soldiers if he could eat with them before blowing himself up, the official said.
Two other bombers approached soldiers on foot elsewhere in the city before detonating their explosive vests.
Shortly afterwards, two suicide bombers launched a fourth attack and blew themselves up at the entrance of an army camp, the official said. In all, the attacks killed 17 soldiers as well as a woman and child who were passing by, he added.
Mukalla remained under Al-Qaeda control for one year before pro-government troops, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, drove the terrorists out in April.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s warring parties plan to suspend talks on ending more than a year of conflict after failing to reach a breakthrough, negotiators said Monday.
Two negotiators representing Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies, and one from the internationally recognized government, said that the two sides were drafting a joint statement to announce that they will return to talks mid-July, following Eid Al-Fiar.
A minister in the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, said “the return to the talks is meant to save face after reaching a deadlock.”

Source: Arab News