SANAA: Two car bomb explosions killed at least six people and wounded 43 others including civilians on Saturday in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, security officials and witnesses said, in an attack later claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

The explosions targeted the site of an anti-terrorism military camp with detention facilities for suspected militants, the officials said, adding that those killed included three civilians and three security personnel. They said that the casualties were taken to hospitals for treatment.

The IS’s statement, carried by its Aamaq news agency, said two suicide bomb attacks had struck the anti-terrorism camp in Aden.

“The explosions terrified dozens of families living in the area who rushed to the street to look for their children,” eyewitness Gamal Mahdi said. He added that the explosions resulted in multiple causalities, including civilians, and were followed by heavy gunfire.

Ali al-Saya, a member of the separatist Southern Transitional Council, said that one of the explosions targeted an office at the STC, which is also the residence of Aden’s former governor Aidrous al-Zubaidi. The office is situated close to the anti-terrorism camp. Al-Zubaidi was not present when the bomb went off.

Other witnesses said that militants tried to storm the camp before the explosion but failed. Photos surfaced following the explosion showing the charred vehicles and clouds of heavy smoke hovering over the area.

The witnesses and officials spoke on condition of anonymity either because they feared retaliation or were not authorized to brief the media.

Aden has been the seat of Hadi’s government since 2014, when Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, seized the capital Sanaa and forced him into self-exile. A Saudi-led coalition backing Hadi has been at war with the Houthis since March 2015.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2018