Four policemen killed, 6 wounded in Aden blast

ADEN: A bomb killed four policemen on Wednesday in Yemen’s second city Aden, a security official said, in an attack claimed by the IS group.

Another six officers were wounded in the blast in the southern port city where the government has its base, the official said. The extremist IS group issued a statement claiming the bombing.

Security officials said that the assailant approached carrying a bag and asked to eat lunch with the troops.

He left the bag behind and it exploded as soon as he was gone, the sources told said. Despite a 16-month-old military intervention in Yemen, the government has struggled to secure Aden, which has seen several bombings and assassinations claimed by IS or Al Qaeda.

On Friday, a suicide bombing claimed by Al Qaeda hit the convoy of Aden governor Aidarus al Zubaidi, wounding three people travelling with him.

Earlier this year, the coalition launched a major offensive against Al Qaeda, helping to recapture the Hadramawt provincial capital of Mukalla in April after a year of extremist rule.

Suicide attackers set off car bombs at two military checkpoints outside the government-held port city of Mukalla in Yemen on Monday, killing at least five soldiers. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks near the capital of eastern Hadramout province on the Gulf of Aden.

Coalition forces had previously focused their guns on rebels and their allies who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north and centre, creating a power vacuum that has been exploited by extremists.