Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen claim responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil pipelines
The Pentagon increases America's military footprint in the Middle East to counter an unspecified Iranian threat to U.S. troops.
Coordinated suicide bombings and a ballistic missile launched by rebels in Yemen at a military parade and police station killed at least 51 people Thursday, with dozens more wounded.
The medium-range missile, which killed at least 40, hit Aden’s neighborhood of Breiqa where military forces loyal to the United Arab Emirates held a parade at the pro-coalition al-Galaa camp.
It left scores of casualties, including military commanders, according to Iran-backed Houthi rebels’ website, Al-Masirah.
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A soldier guards the site of a deadly attack inside the Sheikh Othman police station in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. Yemen's rebels have fired a ballistic missile at a military parade in the southern port city of Aden as coordinated suicide bombings targeted the police station in another part of the city. The attacks killed at least 51 people and wounded dozens. (AP)
Meanwhile, a car, a bus and three motorcycles charged with explosives detonated outside a police station during morning roll-call in the city’s Omar al-Mokhtar neighborhood. The explosion killed 11 and wounded at least 29; four suicide bombers were allegedly involved in the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the police station bombing, but both Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch and an Islamic State affiliate have exploited the chaos of the country’s war between the Houthis and the government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
Zakarya Ahmed, a police officer who was inside the three-story station at the time of the explosion, described the incident as “a disaster.”
“I felt myself flying in the air and falling down, hitting the floor,” Ahmed said. “When I got up on my feet, I saw bodies burning, others torn into pieces.”
An anonymous Yemeni health official stated that along with the 51 killed, an additional 56 were wounded from the attacks in Aden.
YEMEN REBELS SAY DRONE HITS ARMS DEPOT AT SAUDI AIRPORT
Civilians gather at the site of a deadly attack in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. Yemen's rebels have fired a ballistic missile at a military parade in the southern port city of Aden as coordinated suicide bombings targeted a police station in another part of the city. The attacks killed at least 51 people and wounded dozens. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Thursday’s attacks came just weeks after the UAE withdrew thousands of its troops from Yemen, totaling to about 50-75% of its forces pulled from the country and leaving behind what it said were some 90,000 trained local forces. They were allegedly the deadliest attacks in Aden since November 2017, when an ISIS affiliate targeted the city’s security headquarters, killing 15, mostly policemen.
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The UAE’s withdrawal came amid escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf between the United States and Iran, following Washington’s pullout from the nuclear deal with Tehran last year.
Fox News' Morgan Cheung and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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