Yemeni troops reportedly thwarted a bombing plot designed to destroy one of the primary counterterrorism hubs used by US and local forces against al Qaeda-linked terror cells in the country.

Local security forces stationed at Yemen's Al Anad Air Base in the southern part of the country uncovered a car filled with explosives and anti-tank missiles parked next to the facility's main gate on Monday, according to Reuters.

Yemeni troops prevented the two men inside the car from detonating the ordnance and took them into custody after diffusing the explosive materiel, a security official told Reuters.

"This was a planned suicide attack," the official added.

The base, located in Lahj province south of Yemen's capitol Sanaa, is one of two major facilities used by American forces to support the ongoing counterterrorism offensive by the country's military against al Qaeda positions along the country's southern coast.

Along with the joint US-Yemen base in Aden, both facilities are allegedly the main command and control centers for US-led drone strikes against suspected members of al Qaeda's cell in the country, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Pentagon officials are planning to expand both locations to include two new "expeditionary bases" for US forces as part of a $75 million counterterrorism package for Sanaa sent to Capitol Hill in July.

A 20-man US special operations force is already on the ground in Yemen, providing satellite imagery, drone video, eavesdropping systems and other technical means to point out suspected al Qaeda targets to US and Yemeni forces, according to news reports.

News of the bombing plot comes as American intelligence and military officials have begun to expand the use of armed drones strikes into the northern part of the country.

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Editor's Note: Yup, al Qaeda is "on the run," right Mr. Obama?