Yemeni security officials say a suicide attacker set off a massive vehicle bomb in the southern city of Aden, killing 25 pro-government troops who had been preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia to fight in Yemen’s northern border area.
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The assault killed at least 71 people and wounded about 98 others, medical sources from the three hospitals where the victims were taken said.
Yemenis inspect the site of a suicide auto bombing claimed by the Islamic State group on August 29, 2016 at an army recruitment centre in the southern Yemeni city of Aden.
Aden-based security sources said that a suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a gathering of army recruits near a school in Aden’s Mansourah neighborhood.
They could not immediately verify if all those killed were army recruits.
Attacks in the port city are often claimed by jihadists from either Al-Qaeda or ISIS, who have both taken advantage of the chaos in Yemen to make gains in southern and southeastern regions.
Another local resident, Faisal Abdul Hafeth al-Doqm, a 30-year-old lawyer, said the Islamic State released a statement on local news websites saying it was behind the attack and identifying the suicide bomber as Ahmed Saif, a man of Somali descent who was born and raised in Aden.
And in May, twin suicide bombings in Aden claimed by IS killed at least 41 people.
On Sunday, high-ranking pro-government officials confirmed to Xinhua that they are planning to recruit and train more than 5,000 young fighters from the government-controlled southern provinces to join the fighting with the Saudi Border Guard Forces against Houthi rebels.
Earlier this month, Yemen government forces entered Abyan’s provincial capital Zinjibar.
Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in the key al-Qaeda stronghold of Al-Mahfid, security sources said.
The militants are still present in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of the neighbouring Shabwa province, the sources say.
The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops with air cover throughout their war against the jihadists.
The United States has carried out numerous drone strikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives in Yemen.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March a year ago and has helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces.
The latest hostilities come amid ongoing failed attempts to launch peace talks in Yemen. The Houthi-led ruling bloc told Reuters Monday that the military movement was open to negotiations after the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations agreed to a plan to set talks in motion with the aim of setting up a unity government.
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Over 6,600 people hvae been killed in Yemen since 2015 and over 80 per cent are left in need of humanitarian aid.
