Car bomb in Yemen targets senior officials, kills six others

Explosion rocks the port city of Aden, where the internationally recognized government sits; officials say two ministers survived the attack

By Ahmed al-Haj 10 October 2021, 5:33 pm

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Yemeni security forces and rescue teams gather around the skeleton of a burnt car following an explosion that hit Yemen's southern port city of Aden, on October 10, 2021. (Saleh Al-OBEIDI / AFP)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — At least six people were killed Sunday in Yemen’s port city of Aden by a car bomb that targeted two senior government officials who survived, an official said.

The explosion targeted the convoy of Agriculture Minister Salem al-Socotrai and Aden’s Gov. Ahmed Lamlas in the district of Tawahi, said Information Minister Moammar al-Iryani.

The blast killed at least six people among Lamlas’ companions and wounded at least seven others who had been passing by, al-Iryani said. The casualties were taken to hospitals for treatment, he said.

The explosion damaged several buildings in the area, quickly sealed off by security forces, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed called the explosion a “terrorist attack” and ordered an investigation.

No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Yemeni security forces and rescue teams gather around the carcass of a burnt car following an explosion that hit Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, on October 10, 2021. (Saleh Al-OBEIDI / AFP)

Aden has been rocked by several explosions in the past years, which have been blamed on local affiliates of the al-Qaeda and Islamic State groups.

Aden has been the seat of the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi since the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels took over the capital, Sanaa, triggering Yemen’s civil war.

The president fled to Aden then to Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition the following year to try to restore Hadi to power and threw its support behind his internationally backed government.