5 killed in blast targeting Yemeni government officials in Aden
A security official told Xinhua that a massive explosion occurred on Sunday in a convoy of high-ranking Yemeni government officials in the country’s southern port city of Aden.
A local security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “A detonated vehicle exploded in a stranded vehicle in Aden’s Tawahi district, targeting a convoy carrying several government officials.”
He said the car bomb attack targeted a convoy of Aden governor Ahmed Lamlas and other Saudi-backed Yemeni government officials.
According to local officials, the city’s governor and agriculture minister narrowly escaped the bombing attack. Witnesses said columns of black smoke were seen rising from the bombing site in Tawahi.
An official from Aden’s local authority confirmed to Xinhua that five soldiers guarding the governor of Aden were killed and several others were injured. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack.
However, Yemeni government officials blamed terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda for the bombings during the previous months. Local authorities are trying to maintain security and stability in the strategic Yemeni port city, considered the country’s temporary capital.
However, sporadic bombing incidents and drive-by shooting attacks still occur in Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has been based since 2015.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of several northern provinces and ousted Hadi’s internationally recognized government from the capital, Sanaa.
(with inputs from ANI)
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