Yemen bus bombing kills air force soldier in Sanaa

Forensic experts inspect the wreckage after bus attack in Sanaa A powerful blast ripped through a bus carrying Yemeni air force personnel to their Sanaa base Sunday, killing one person and wounding 25, an air force spokesman said .
A bomb planted on the bus exploded while the vehicle was travelling on the road leading to Sanaa international airport, which is adjacent to the base, Colonel Mehdi al-Aydarus told AFP.
A security official had earlier put the death toll at six.
Aydarus said five of the injured were in critical condition.
The director of the nearby Saudi-German Hospital, Abdullah al-Daeri, confirmed the toll.
"This terrorist act aims to destabilise the country and jeopardising the (ongoing) national dialogue," aimed to draft a new constitution and prepare for elections next year, Aydarus said.
The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the most active franchise of the global jihadist network, has been behind numerous attacks on the country's security forces.
On Saturday, two al-Qaeda gunmen were killed in Yemen, as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi met with a top US commander to discuss continued cooperation between the two nations in tackling terrorism.
A militant from the radical Islamist group died when a bomb he ?was preparing for an attack on governmental targets exploded, while a second man was killed in clashes with a tribal pro-army ?militia in the southern governorate of Abyan.
The Yemeni Ministry of Interior said 18-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Ali Mohammed al-Mesdai was in a mountainous area near Majel village in the ?Lawdar province when the bomb he was preparing exploded.
In statement published on its website on Saturday, the ministry also quoted a leader of the pro-government Popular Committees militia in the southern region of Lahij as saying a man died after his group exchanged fire with three unknown gunmen after they threw a hand grenade at a Popular Committees vehicle. One of the men died and the other two were captured, he said.
The developments come a day after two soldiers were killed and six injured in a suicide car bombing ?in the eastern region of Hadramaut, which military officials blamed on al-Qaeda.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi has insisted he will continue to work with the USA to tackle the terrorist threat in Yemen, going as far on Thursday as to ask his American ally to supply Yemen with drones.
During a meeting with the Commander of the US Military Central Command General Lloyd Austin in Sanaa on ?Saturday, Hadi said cooperation with the USA in fighting terrorism had achieved great successes, and vowed it would continue.
Explaining the nature of the cooperation agreement, he pointed to the deployment of specialist Yemeni officers in Bahrain, Djibouti and Florida to track and monitor al-Qaeda activity across the world.
Yemen’s official news agency said Hadi’s meeting with the American military leader ?tackled the nature of Yemen’s security, political and economic challenges, ?and the grave repercussions of the crisis that erupted at the beginning of 2011.?
The Yemeni President said aid from the US and the 10 countries supporting the Gulf initiative would continue to be appreciated by the Yemeni ?people.?
President Hadi said: “Current cooperation between Yemen and the United States of America in different ?fields, especially security and fighting terrorism, are achieving great success, and this cooperation ?will continue until all its aims are achieved.
“It is part of the international cooperation to fight cross-?border and cross-continental terrorism, which doesn’t consider any religion, morals or humanity, and ?its crimes are the evidence that its aims have nothing to do with the Islamic religion… ?its morals and principles.”?
The American military commander echoed Hadi’s praise of their collaboration on counter-terrorism. Austin emphasised the need for Washington, in cooperation with the ?international community, to support Yemen during these exceptional times, until its transition phase is completed and the country can enjoy peace, development, and prosperity.
Additional Sources: AFP, Reuters