Al-Qaeda gunmen killed 19 soldiers in an attack on an army base in southern Yemen Friday, security officials said, a day after deadly assaults by militants and an extremist bomber.The gunmen stormed Al-Mahfad base in Abyan province and remained inside for several hours before military reinforcements came, three security officials told AFP, adding that the soldiers were killed in clashes with the extremists.“The Qaeda gunmen took advantage of what happened (Thursday) in Aden and launched an assault on Al-Mahfad base and clashed with soldiers,” a government security official said.“Military reinforcements were sent… and the gunmen were killed while others were driven out with air support from the (Saudi-led) coalition, in an operation that lasted hours,” the official said.“At least 19 soldiers were killed and others wounded.”The other two officials confirmed both the details and the death toll.The Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Daesh and other extremists have flourished in the chaos of the civil war between the government and the Huthis.The United States considers AQAP the global extremist network’s most dangerous branch and has waged a long-running drone war against its leaders.
