Islamic State post still photographs they claim show killing of Aden governor

Islamic State post still photographs they claim show killing of Aden governor

Islamic State posted photographs on their website that purport to show the moment the governor of Aden was killed by a car bomb on Sunday (December 6) in Yemen’s southern port city, in an attack that that the group have claimed responsibility for.

A local official and residents said at least six members of General Jaafar Mohammed Saad’s entourage also died in the attack, which targeted the governor on his way to work. Several other people were wounded.

The attack came in the Tawahi district of Aden, where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has returned to oversee a war against Iran-allied Houthis.

Islamic State, in a statement posted on a messaging service, said it detonated a car laden with explosives as Saad’s convoy passed by. The group promised more operations against “the heads of apostasy in Yemen”.

The group also posted what it said were photos of the booby-trapped vehicle as a white van carrying Saad drove past, then two other photos of a huge ball of fire which it said were taken as the bomb exploded.

Islamic State’s local branch has stepped up operations since the outbreak of civil war in Yemen, emerging as a forceful rival to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the main militant group in the country in recent years.

Local officials said Saad, who fought in the 1994 civil war for southern forces against the northerners, had lived in exile in Egypt and Britain before he returned earlier this year at Hadi’s request.

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Islamic State post photos they claim show killing of governor

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