Yemen blast 'kills 8' near presidential palace in Aden

A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least eight people Thursday outside Yemen's presidential palace in the city of Aden, security and medical officials said.

IS said that one of its militants, apparently a Dutch national, carried out the attack on a checkpoint outside the palace in the main city of southern Yemen.

Both soldiers and civilians were among those killed, while at least 17 others were wounded, a medical source said.

A security source said the attack appeared to target the convoy of a local businessman who was entering the presidential complex.

Sources had initially said the convoy was carrying Aden's governor, Aidarus al-Zubaidi, but he later told AFP he was not in the area at the time of the attack.

Zubaidi survived a car bombing earlier this month, after being appointed in December following the murder of his predecessor, Jaafar Saad, in an Aden bombing claimed by IS.

Witnesses said the blast damaged at least six vehicles and a nearby mosque.

In statement posted on Twitter, IS said "martyrdom-seeker Abu Hanifa al-Hollandi... detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at the presidential palace".

The name used for the assailant implied he was from the Netherlands.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi was in the palace at the time of the attack but unharmed, a government official said.

Military vehicles from the Saudi-led coalition which supports Hadi's government were deployed around the complex after the attack, security sources said.

Aden has become the temporary headquarters of Hadi's government as it battles to retake large parts of Yemen from Shiite Huthi rebels.

The port city has also seen a growing jihadist presence, with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, long active in Yemen, and IS apparently vying for influence.

Hadi fled to Aden after escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa, which was overran by the Huthis in September 2014.

But he also had to flee the southern port city in March to Riyadh when the rebels advanced on the south, prompting Saudi Arabia to intervene with air strikes.

The United Nations says more than 5,800 people have been killed in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, about half of them civilians, since the coalition air campaign was launched 10 months ago.
Source :AFP