Islamic State claims deadly car bombing attack in Yemen's Aden

ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State group is responsible for an attack against the headquarters of the Finance Ministry in the southern port city of Aden with a parked car bomb that killed at least five people on Wednesday, the group's Amaq news agency said.

"An attack by detonating a parked car filled with explosives was launched by the Islamic State group against the finance ministry building in Aden," Amaq agency reported.

The Islamic State branch of Yemen claimed the attack by releasing a statement via its propaganda agency Amaq just hours after it rocked the city of Aden.

Earlier in the day, security officials based in Aden told Xinhua that unknown militants detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) and targeted the Ministry of Finance building in KhorMaksar district of Aden.

Residents told Xinhua that the blast was so powerful and sent a large plume of smoke up over the area in addition to causing partial damages to some nearby residential buildings.

Medical sources at Jamhuria public hospital told Xinhua that five people were killed and about 15 others injured as a result of the car bomb attack that hit the Finance Ministry of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The security forces backed by armored vehicles cordoned off the area as firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for conducting two suicide attacks against security buildings in Aden during the recent month of November.

An IS-claimed suicide car bombing targeted the CID building in Aden and killed more than 47 people and also another IS-claimed bombing that hit a headquarters of the newly-recruited troops in the city in the same month of November.

According to observers the suicide attacks and the repeated drive-by shootings in Aden point at a spectacular intelligence failure and spotlights how terrorists have managed to move and launch attacks despite the heavy presence of the Yemeni troops backed by the United Arab Emirates.

The southern port city of Aden is considered as Yemen's temporary capital and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government based itself there since 2015.

During the past two years, the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other terrorist groups including the Islamic State had an active presence in Yemen's southern part.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-backed Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with seven million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths. Enditem