The assault killed 60 people and wounded 29 others, medical sources from the three hospitals where the victims were taken told AFP.
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Dozens of others were injured, authorities reported. The chaos has allowed jihadist groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda to make gains in the country’s south and southeast.
Hundreds of Yemeni soldiers have been trained over the past two months as the government intensifies its onslaught to recapture southern provinces from jihadists. Part of the governorate sits on the countrys border with Saudi Arabia, where media reports indicate that attacks from the direction of Yemen have caused an unconfirmed number of civilian casualties, according to the OCHA statement.
The campaign began after the Houthi rebels, backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over parts of the country, including Sanaa, forcing the government into exile.
The chairman of Yemen’s Center for Human Rights Studies, Mohammed Qasem Noman, said it was hard to pin down the toll because the wounded were going to different hospitals around the city.
In response to the increased deadly attacks on its border, Saudi Arabia recently set in motion a plan to recruit 5,000 Yemenis to protect its southern provinces, particularly Jizan and Najran, Yemeni officials said.
The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying, sending residents fleeing, one witness said.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March past year and helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces since July 2015.
The attack came as momentum for another round of peace negotiations, between the Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, was building.
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The United Nations has significantly revised the estimated death toll from Yemen’s 18-month civil war to up to 10,000 people – a huge increase on the previous estimate of more than 6,000.
