An al-Qaida suicide car bomber stormed a military base in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Friday, killing at least 15 soldiers and injuring dozens, a provincial security official told Xinhua.

"The suicide car bombing attack was carried out simultaneously with a heavy-machine gunfire by the militants on the 111th Brigade 's command center in the district of Ahwar in Abyan province," the official told Xinhua by phone.

He said that the car bomb completely destroyed the building of the command center, where senior military officers work, killing at least 15 soldiers and injuring more than 18 others.

Meanwhile, following the suicide bombing attack in the morning, the official said, the militants invaded the military base from different directions, killing an unidentified number of soldiers and injuring others during the exchange of fire for three hours.

The fresh suicide bombing occurred in the wake of a string of attacks on a security camp and a military checkpoint of the Brigade 26 Mika in the al-Bayda province late Thursday, killing at least eight soldiers and wounding dozens of others.

The attacks took place amid the week-long celebration of the Eid al-Adha that started on Tuesday.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that is based in Yemen's southern regions repeatedly said that its attacks were in revenge for joint U.S.-Yemeni operations including drone strikes against the group.

Drone strikes have increased since August after the United States temporarily closed its embassy in Sanaa due to security threats. The Yemeni government said more than 40 suspected AQAP fighters were killed in the strikes.

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