5 killed in explosion targeting Yemeni gov't officials in Aden

A massive explosion struck a convoy of high-ranking Yemeni government officials in the country's southern port city of Aden on Sunday, a security official told Xinhua.

"A booby-trapped vehicle exploded in Aden's district of Tawahi, targeting a travelling convoy carrying a number of government officials," the local security source said on condition of anonymity.

The car bomb attack targeted the motorcade of Aden's governor Ahmed Lamlas and other officials of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, he said.

According to the local official, the city's governor and the minister of agriculture survived the bombing attack unhurt.

Witnesses said that columns of black smoke were seen rising from the bombing site in Tawahi.

An official of Aden's local authority confirmed to Xinhua that five soldiers in charge of guarding Aden's governor were killed and a number of others wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack yet. However, Yemeni government officials blamed terror groups such as al-Qaida for the bomb explosions during the past months.

Local authorities are trying to maintain security and stability in the strategic Yemeni port city considered as the country's temporary capital.

However, sporadic bombing incidents and drive-by shooting attacks still occur in Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has been based since 2015.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognized government of Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )