ISIS suicide bombers kill over 48 people, mostly soldiers, in S. Yemen

More than 48 people were killed on Monday and on Tuesday morning by ISIS suicide bombers in the port city of Mukalla in southern Yemen. Most of those who died were Yemeni soldiers. The battles in and around Mukalla, the only port city on the Arabian Peninsula where ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had control, have been raging for several weeks.
DEBKAfile: Control of the city provides the terrorist groups with access to the Gulf of Aden from their bases in the area of Hadramout in southern Yemen. Special forces from the UAE and Saudi Arabia withdrew from Mukalla after capturing it in the beginning of June. The only military forces remaining in the city are Yemeni troops that are under constant attack by suicide bombers.