Three bomb attacks hit intelligence, security HQs in Yemen' s Aden, two killed

Source: Xinhua, 15/09/2011

ADEN/SANAA,Three loud blasts hit intelligence headquarters and a police station in Yemen's southern port city of Aden midnight Wednesday, leaving one soldier and one passerby killed, and 13 others injured, local officials and residents told Xinhua.

A local security official, who asked not to be named, said that three bomb attacks hit the local military intelligence headquarters and police station in al-Mansoura and al-Mullat districts, killing at least one soldier.

"The first blast at the police station of al-Mualla was caused by two stun grenades at the gate of the building," the official said, adding that "the blasts bear the hallmarks of al-Qiada in the Arabian Peninsula."

Police forces fired back following the explosions and a passerby was accidentally shot dead, residents said.

Another provincial official told Xinhua that "two blasts hit the intelligence headquarters and another blast rocked the police station 10 minutes later, leaving up to 13 security soldiers slightly injured."

The blasts came just hours after the authorities approved at a meeting tightened security measures across Aden to prevent any infiltration by al-Qaida militants from the neighboring province of Abyan, according to local government sources.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has vowed to avenge the recent Yemeni-U.S. joint military air strikes on their hideouts in Zinjibar and Jaar cities of Abyan province and Rawda town of Shabwa province, and to move guerrilla warfare into Aden and other provinces