ADEN: A suicide car bombing claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group killed at least eight people on Thursday outside Yemen’s presidential palace in Aden, security and medical officials said.

The group 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 later said 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 remained 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 Houthi 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 Houthis 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.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2016