Suicide attack targets military checkpoint in Yemen's Aden, 7 killed

A military checkpoint of pro-government forces was struck by a suicide car bombing in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Friday, killing some seven soldiers and injuring others, a police officer told Xinhua.

"A suicide bomber detonated his booby-trapped car at a military checkpoint manned by pro-government troops in Aden's district of Cirater, leaving about seven soldiers dead on the spot, " the local police officer said on condition of anonymity.

"The soldiers stationed at the checkpoint attempted to seize the suicide bomber but he detonated himself immediately at the scene," the local police source said.

Initial reports suggest that seven soldiers were killed and a number of others critically injured as a result of the explosion, according to medical officials at Aden's public hospital.

Another security source of Aden's Police Command told Xinhua that "a suicide bomber wearing women clothes was on his way to bomb the presidential compound not the checkpoint. The operation was aborted."

It's the second VBIED in during the past 24 hours that hits an area few kilometers north of the Presidential Palace, where Yemen's internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is residing.

On Thursday, the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack carried out by a Dutch fighter against the Presidential Palace, in which nine soldiers were killed and several others injured.

The attack against the pro-government military checkpoint is the latest in a spate of violence and assassinations against pro-government officials in Aden, Yemen's temporary capital.

The turbulent and complicated security situation in Aden and neighboring southern provinces of Lahj and Abyan is one of the biggest challenges for the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces operating in Aden.

The coalition has dispatched thousands of soldiers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sudan and Bahrain into five anti-Houthi southern provinces to support and train local Yemeni security forces. Endit