Yemen: Car bomb near Aden presidential palace kills five

By Fouad Mosaad

ADEN, Yemen

Seven Yemenis were killed in a car bomb attack Thursday near the country’s presidential palace in Aden province, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.

Sources added that dozens of people were also injured in the blast.

For his side, Brigadier Shallak Shayee, security chief in Aden province, told Anadolu Agency that the death toll included a number of soldiers.

Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility on Twitter.

The attack took place near a checkpoint on the outskirts of the presidential palace in Maashiq district.

In September 2014, the Houthi Shia militia overran Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, before capturing additional parts of the country, forcing Saudi-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi and his government to flee to Riyadh.

In March, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains in Yemen and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Hadi has since returned to Aden, which currently serves as the temporary seat of his government, while the Houthis remain in control of capital Sanaa.

Fighting, meanwhile, continues to rage in several parts of the country between the Houthis and their allies on one hand and Saudi-backed pro-Hadi forces on the other.

According to UN figures, around 6,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies began air and ground operations in Yemen.