A suicide bomber drove into a checkpoint on Saturday, killing three soldiers in southern Yemen, where the army is fighting militants suspected of links to al Qaeda. An official said the suicide bomber drove up to the checkpoint on the road between the city of Aden and Abyan province, where the army is battling Islamist militants.
The suicide bomber was also killed in the blast, the official said, adding that the death toll was likely to rise. The number of people injured was not known. While President Ali Abdullah Saleh recovers in neighbouring Saudi Arabia from a June assassination attempt, militants have seized at least three cities the south in recent months.
The United States and Saudi Arabia fear turmoil in Yemen will give al Qaeda's Yemen-based branch more room to launch attacks in the region and beyond. Opponents of Saleh accuse him of exaggerating the threat of al Qaeda and even of encouraging militants in order to pressure Riyadh and Washington into backing him. Saleh is clinging on to power despite months of protests against his 33-year rule.
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