The incident took place at a camp in northern Aden on Monday when the attacker drove his vehicle into a gathering of new recruits at the camp.
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The massive death toll represents one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Yemen since ISIS established a foothold in the war-torn country.
Witnesses said some recruits were buried when a roof collapsed over them following the blast, which also damaged buildings close to the recruitment center. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s Amaq news agency.
Meanwhile, in Kerbala, Iraq, five ISIS militants attacked a wedding celebration late Sunday night, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, with one of the assailants reportedly blowing himself up.
The war pits the Iran-allied Houthi group and supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in Aden over the past two months to as part of operations to retake neighbouring southern provinces from jihadists.
Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition 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.
On Sunday, Yemen’s exiled government said it would give an “initial welcoming” to more peace talks with the rebels with a view to forming a unity government.
The conflict in Yemen has killed about 9,000 people, including 3,218 civilians, since March 2015, according to the United Nations.
Almost 10,000 people, majority civilians, have been killed in Riyadh’s military aggression which lacks any worldwide mandate.
Thousands of people have died in the conflict, and millions have been internally displaced.
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A released press statement reads, “It is critical for the parties in Yemen to bring a halt to the fighting as soon as possible and finalize an agreement … that achieves a lasting peace with support from the region and the global community more broadly”.
