Dozens of people have been killed in a suicide attack on an army training camp in Yemen’s second city of Aden.
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A suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden auto into a gathering of army recruits near a school in Aden’s Mansourah neighbourhood, the official said.
The assault killed at least 71 people and wounded 98, medical sources tell AFP.
ISIS claimed responsibility for Monday’s bombing and said the attack killed about 60 new recruits, according to the group’s Amaq news agency.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March a year ago and helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces since July 2015. The assailant drove the vehicle into a group of new army recruits, an official said, according to Al Jazeera. But on July 20, four policemen were killed in a bombing attack in Aden that was claimed by IS.
Witnesses say that the suicide bomber came into the blend area following a truck that had brought breakfast for the recruits, who were queuing for the meal, said the report.
The air attacks started when the Houthi rebels, assisted by supporters of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, gained control over parts of Yemen, as well as Sanaa, which compelled the current administration go into exile.
Doctors Without Borders said that in addition to the dead, another 60 people were brought to local hospitals run by the worldwide charity.
“Security services are still evacuating the dead and wounded” from the scene of the attack.
It was used by the Popular Resistance, a local force that had helped drive Iranian-allied Houthis out of the city past year.
It comes amid a fresh push to end Yemen’s 17-month old war between Saudi-backed government and rebels. The coalition said it regretted the aid group’s withdrawal from the country.
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Peace talks mediated by the United Nations in Kuwait were suspended in early August, and the fighting has continued unabated.
