IS in Yemen claims responsibility for suicide attack in Aden

APD NEWS

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Islamic State (IS) in Yemen on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on a security center and a military kitchen in Yemen's southern port city of Aden.

In the deadly attack in the neighborhood of Mansourah, six soldiers were killed and more than 30 others injured while they were gathering to receive their lunch meals, according to local sources.

IS media arm A'maq published a statement on Twitter claiming responsibility for the attack.

The IS statement did not mention further details about the purpose of the attack or identities of those who conducted the incident.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni police confirmed to Xinhua that a suicide bomber riding an explosive-laden car blew it up next to a building used to store food and meals for the Yemeni forces in Aden, causing damage.

The southern port city of Aden is considered as Yemen's temporary capital and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government based itself there since 2015.

During the past two years, the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other terrorist groups including the IS had an active presence in Yemen's southern part.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia led an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-backed Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the nation of world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)