ADEN (Reuters) – At least 14 people were killed and 40 wounded when Islamist car suicide bombers and gunmen tried to storm the headquarters of a counter-terrorism unit in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday, security and medical sources said. </s> ADEN - Dozens of people were killed or wounded in two suicide car bombings in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Saturday, witnesses and local medics said.

They said the attacks appeared to have targeted a camp used by anti-terrorism forces in south-western Aden. Officials at the city's main Jumhouriya hospital said the bodies of five victims, most of them soldiers, had arrived at the facility, along with a number of injured people including civilians. </s> ADEN (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car bomb into a militia compound in Aden on Monday, the health ministry said, in one of the deadliest attacks claimed by the Islamic State terror group in the southern Yemeni port city.

The director general of Yemen’s health ministry in Aden, al-Khader Laswar, told Reuters that at least 67 other people were wounded in the attack in the city’s Mansoura district.

The Islamic State said in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency one of its suicide bombers carried out the bombing.

“Around 60 dead in a martyrdom operation by a fighter from Islamic State targeting a recruitment center in Aden city,” the statement said, without giving further details.

A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.

The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying and residents fleeing, one witness said.

Islamist terrorists have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthis and Hadi’s supporters and launched a series of attacks targeting senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Hadi. </s> ADEN (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed and 40 wounded when Islamist car suicide bombers and gunmen tried to storm the headquarters of a counter-terrorism unit in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday, security and medical sources said.

Islamic State, in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency, claimed responsibility for what it described as two “martyrdom operations” targeting the camp in Tawahi district in south-western Aden.

The agency provided no immediate evidence for the claim.

Security sources said two suicide bombers detonated two cars laden with explosives at the camp’s entrance while six gunmen tried to storm the facility.

They were all killed by guards and their bodies taken to a military hospital, a medical source told Reuters.

Aden police said in a statement on its Facebook page that security forces had foiled a major attack on the camp.

“All the ... terrorists were liquidated immediately before they could reach the outer gate of the anti-terrorism headquarters,” a police statement said.

Security sources and medics said three security men, a woman and two children died in the attack, while 40 other people, many of them civilians, were wounded.

The attack was the first of its kind in southern Yemen since gun battles erupted in January between southern separatists and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government over control of the city.

Aden is the temporary capital of Yemen’s internationally recognized Hadi government, which is now operating out of Saudi Arabia.

Backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, Hadi’s government has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement since 2015 in a war that has driven the country to the verge of famine.

Residents described two large explosions in the area that sent up a cloud of gray smoke while ambulances raced to evacuate the wounded.

In a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency, Hadi described the attack as a “cowardly act aimed to destabilize security in the temporary capital ... but it will not dissuade people from their will to achieve security, safety and decent living.”

Al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited the war in Yemen to carry out assassinations and bombings, mostly in lawless southern Yemeni areas nominally controlled by the government. </s> Drives a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias.

A suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in Aden on Monday, Medicins Sans Frontieres said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the southern Yemeni port city.

The official said at least 60 other people were brought into a nearby hospital run by the medical charity in Aden's Mansoura district.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing and said the attack killed about 60 new recruits, according to the group's Amaq news agency.

A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.

The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying, sending residents fleeing, one witness said.

Islamist militants have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthis and Mr. Hadi's supporters and launched a series of attacks targeting senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Mr. Hadi. </s> ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car bomb into a militia compound in Aden on Monday, the health ministry said, in one of the deadliest attacks claimed by Islamic State in the southern Yemeni port city.

The director general of Yemen’s health ministry in Aden, al-Khader Laswar, told Reuters that at least 67 other people were wounded in the attack in the city’s Mansoura district.

The militant Islamic State group said in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency one of its suicide bombers carried out the bombing.

“Around 60 dead in a martyrdom operation by a fighter from Islamic State targeting a recruitment center in Aden city,” the statement said, without giving further details.

A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.

Related Coverage Islamic State claims Yemen suicide bombing, says about 60 militia recruits killed

Witnesses said the suicide bomber entered the compound behind a truck that had brought breakfast for the conscripts, who had queued for the meal.

Ambulance sirens wailed throughout the morning as they ferried casualties to a hospital run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which was overwhelmed by the number of casualties. An MSF spokesperson said the hospital received at least 45 bodies and more than 60 wounded people.

Islamist militants, including Islamic State, have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthi movement and Hadi’s supporters, attacking senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Hadi.

Last month, the governor of the southern Yemeni city of Aden survived a car bomb attack targeting his convoy, the latest attempt on the city’s top official.

In May, a suicide bomber killed at least 40 army recruits and injured 60 others when he rammed a booby-trapped car at recruits lined up to enlist for military service at a compound in Aden.

Slideshow (5 Images)

Hadi’s supporters, who accuse former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of using Islamist militants to target the internationally-recognized president, have launched a series of raids in recent weeks to try to stem the violence, seizing dozens of people suspected of involvement in attacks across the city.

In eastern Yemen, forces loyal to Hadi, backed by troops from the United Arab Emirates, drove members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from the city of Mukalla in a military operation in May. </s> ADEN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 45 people when he drove a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in Aden on Monday, Medecins Sans Frontieres said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the southern Yemeni port city.

The official said at least 60 other people were brought into a nearby hospital run by the medical charity in Aden's Mansoura district.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but it resembled previous suicide bombings which Islamic State said it carried out in the city.

A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.

The blast rocked the area and sent debris flying, sending residents fleeing, one witness said.

Islamist militants have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthis and Hadi's supporters and launched a series of attacks targeting senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Hadi. (Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf, writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh; editing by Dominic Evans) </s> Officials in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, say a car bomb has hit a district headquarters, killing at least six people and injuring 16.

The blast targeted the headquarters of Hodan district in Mogadishu. Witnesses said the explosion Monday caused massive destruction to the building.

"The blast was huge," police officer Ibrahim Mohamed, told the French news agency, AFP.

The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility via their affiliate social media accounts.

It is the second time the group has targeted a local district headquarters in Mogadishu this month. On September 2, a suicide car bomb destroyed the headquarters of the neighboring Hawlwadag district, killing three people. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia — Gunmen from an Islamist militant group stormed a government building in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, after a suicide car bombing on Saturday, killing at least five people, including the country’s deputy labor minister, the police said.

Somali security forces fought an hourslong gun battle with at least five assailants to retake control of the building, which houses the ministries of labor and works, a police officer, Capt. Mohamed Hussein, said.

The Reuters news agency, citing police sources, put the death toll at the end of the battle at 15.

Saqar Ibrahim Abdalla, Somalia’s deputy minister of labor and social affairs, was killed in his ground-floor office shortly after the gunmen stormed the building, Captain Hussein said.

Saturday is a working day in Somalia, and dozens of people were believed to be in the building at the time of the attack.
Islamist car suicide bombers and gunmen try to storm the headquarters of a counter-terrorism unit in the southern port city of Aden, killing at least 14 people and wounding 40 others.