Five killed in Aden blast targeting security official

AL-MUKALLA: At least five people were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday when a blast targeted a security official in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, the country’s interim capital and the seat of its internationally recognized government, a local security source and residents said. 

An improvised explosive device planted in a car went off when a vehicle carrying Lahj province Security Chief Saleh Al-Sayed passed through Aden’s Khormaksar neighborhood, killing five people — four civilians and a bodyguard — and wounding seven others, a security source told Arab News by telephone. 

Al-Sayed, who is loyal to the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council, narrowly escaped death as the explosion burned his car and many other vehicles that were passing through the street.  

Al-Sayed is known for leading troops that purged the Lahj province of Al-Qaeda, Daesh and other armed groups in 2016 and also commanded troops that battled the Houthis in Aden in 2015. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but local officials blame terrorist groups for such attacks. 

Wednesday’s explosion in Aden is the latest in a string of deadly attacks that have shaken the city during the past two years. 

This month, a Yemeni journalist was burned to death in Aden when an IED blast ripped through his vehicle. 

In May, the commander of joint operations at the Aden-based 4th Military Region escaped death after a blast hit his armed SUV in Aden’s Mualla. 

In November, a pregnant journalist was killed when an explosion blew up her vehicle in Aden.  

The latest attack in Aden came a day after Aden Gov. Ahmed Hamed Lamlis told a group of UN officials based in Yemen that the city is “safe” to host their offices.  

Lamlis pledged during a meeting with Diego Zorella, UN deputy resident coordinator for humanitarian affairs in Yemen, to protect the UN delegations that visit or settle in Aden, urging them to intensify their humanitarian operations in the city.