At least 15 people have been killed in Yemen’s coastal city of Aden, a local resident said, in an attack claimed by the local affiliate of the Islamic State group.
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera that several people died in the city’s Khormaksar district on Sunday after an explosives-rigged car blew up outside the criminal investigation department (CID) building.
Armed men, some of whom were wearing military fatigues, then proceeded to storm the facility where clashes were “still ongoing,” the source said.
A separate source told Al Jazeera that at least “three terrorists” entered the CID building wearing suicide vests, but said there were no reports of hostages.
“No gunfire, no explosions, the situation is currently calm,” the source said.
Also in Aden on Sunday, a car bomb targeted the Dar Saad-based office of Yemen’s Islah (Congregation for Reform) party, the country’s largest opposition group, the source said.
The building was abandoned and there were no reports casualties, the source said.
ISIL took responsibility for the attack on the CID building, according to its Amaq,website, claiming the armed group killed around 50 officers.
Aden, the temporary base of Yemen’s government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces in recent months.
Sunday’s violence comes a day after Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a loud explosion in Riyadh, saying they fired a long-range ballistic missile that travelled more than 800km over the border with Saudi Arabia.
The war in Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest country, started in 2014 after Houthi rebels seized control of the capital Sanaa and began pushing south towards the country’s third-biggest city, Aden.
The Yemen government has been based in Aden and Saudi Arabia since 2014.
source: Al Jazeera